Pill 


(She  lift  and  1 

3>auid person  William. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY 

OF 

DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 


DAVID  ROOERSON  WILLIAMS 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 
DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 


BY 
HARVEY  TOLIVER  COOK,  Litt.  D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  CREEK  IN  FURMAN  UNIVERSITY 


NEW   YORK 

M    C    M    X   V    I 


? 
V\/6C7 


PREFACE 

Three  and  one  hundred  years  ago,  four  South  Carolin- 
ians in  the  House  of  Representatives,  Williams,  Cheves, 
Lowndes,  and  Calhoun  were  called  by  the  Richmond 
Enquirer  "a  splendid  constellation  of  talents."  One  of 
the  stars  in  the  group,  David  Rogerson  Williams,  was 
a  large  planter  in  Darlington  District.  His  life  was 
begun  March  8th,  1776,  and  having  been  nourished 
through  the  Revolution  by  his  widowed  mother  and 
educated  at  Society  Hill,  Charleston,  Wrentham  and 
Providence,  he  developed  into  a  pioneer  manufacturer 
and  scientific  agriculturist,  while  at  the  same  time,  his 
superabounding  energy  and  public  spirit  made  him 
one  of  the  foremost  in  educational,  political  and  military 
affairs.  It  has  been  the  aspiration  of  the  following 
chapters  to  retrace  the  footsteps,  often  effaced  by  the 
ravages  of  time  and  of  men,  and  to  rehabilitate,  in  a 
measure,  the  splendid  figure  of  a  Southern  gentleman, 
with  an  occasional  searchlight  thrown  upon  the  times, 
manners,  morals,  customs  and  high  ideals  which  have 
almost  vanished  out  of  American  life,  in  order  that  the 
force  of  his  example  might  perchance  "bear  fruitage 
in  the  present  and  still  richer  fruitage  in  the  future," 
in  our  farms,  our  schools,  our  mills,  our  homes,  our 
politics  and  in  all  our  human  relations.  The  inevitable 
shortcomings  and  failure  to  reach  the  ideal  cannot  be 
ascribed  to  his  friends  and  descendants,  who  so  gener- 

v 


1 89C70 


PREFACE 

ously  furnished  their  credible  traditions,  manuscripts, 
rare  books,  contagious  enthusiasm  and  even  the  sinews 
of  war.  Among  those  who  contributed  authentic  tradi- 
tions were  Messrs.  C.  D.  and  J.  W.  Evans,  of  Darlington, 
Major  J.  J.  Lucas  and  Mr.  N.  W.  Kirkpatrick  of  Society 
Hill  and  especially  Mr.  John  Witherspoon  DuBose  of 
Montgomery,  Alabama.  Those  who  furnished  manu- 
script material  were  Professor  Walter  Bronson  of  Brown 
University,  Mr.  Bright  Williamson  of  Darlington,  Pee 
Dee  materials;  Mr.  C.  C.  Wilson  of  Columbia,  Minutes 
of  the  St.  David's  Society;  Mr.  William  Godfrey  of 
Cheraw,  Minutes  of  the  brigade  under  General  Erasmus 
Powe;  Miss  Mary  L.  Coker  of  Society  Hill,  Minutes 
of  the  Welsh  Neck  Church  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
Female  Benevolent  Society;  Professor  J.  S.  Ames  of 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  Governor  Williams'  Diary, 
1815-1816,  and  numerous  letters  found  in  the  appen- 
dix; Mr.  David  R.  Williams  of  Camden,  two  letters 
written  to  Colonel  Chesnut;  Mr.  A.  S.  Salley  of  Colum- 
bia, letter  accepting  the  governorship ;  Mr.  J.  L.  Farnum, 
Library  of  Congress  Secretary,  copy  of  one  Crawford 
and  one  Williams  letter;  Adjutant  General  George 
Andrews,  Washington,  D.  C,  a  copy  of  General  Wil- 
liams' resignation;  Mr.  G.  M.  Salzgaber,  Commissioner 
of  Pensions;  Mr.  J.  R.  Coggeshall  and  Mr.  Robert 
Macfarland,  copies  of  important  documents. 

Printed  material  was  furnished  by  Professor  Yates 
Snowdon  of  Columbia,  Labor  Organizations  in  South 
Carolina,  1742-1861  and  Founders'  Day,  both  issued 
as  bulletins  of  the  South  Carolina  State  University; 
Mr.  N.  W.  Kirkpatrick,  the  Newspaper  Press  of  Charles- 
ton; Major  J.  L.  Coker,  pamphlets  issued  by  the  Pee 
Dee  Historical  Society;  Mr.  Bright  Williamson,  articles 

vi 


PREFACE 

relating  to  Darlington  County  and  its  diversified  inter- 
ests; Mr.  T.  J.  Kirkland  of  Camden,  the  Camden 
Journal,  1828-1830;  Mr.  A.  H.  Wells,  The  Mountaineer, 
1827-1830,  Greenville,  S.  C;  Mr.  August  Kohn,  The 
Cotton  Mills  of  South  Carolina  and  the  Water  Powers 
of  South  Carolina;  Mr.  Alfred  Moore  of  Welford, 
Landrum's  History  of  Spartanburg  County;  Mr.  J. 
E.  Swearingen,  State  Superintendent  of  Education, 
School  Statistics,  1913-1914;  Commissioner  E.  J.  Wat- 
son, Sixth  Report;  the  Charleston  Library,  Miss  Eliza 
Fitzsimons,  Librarian,  bound  volumes  of  the  City 
Gazette,  the  Courier,  Mercury,  and  also  broken  sets  of 
early  agricultural  papers;  the  Library  of  the  State 
University,  a  bound  volume  of  the  Telescope  and  the 
account  of  LaFayette's  journey  through  the  state  in 
1825;  the  Archives  of  the  State,  Columbia,  deeds  of  the 
early  settlers;  the  legislative  records  under  the  control 
of  Secretary  A.  S.  Salley  of  the  Historical  Commission; 
the  Furman  Collection  in  Greenville,  the  correspond- 
ence of  Dr.  Richard  Furman  and  Rev.  Edmund  Bots- 
ford,  1785-1819.  The  Williams  Family  of  Society 
Hill  by  Professor  Ames,  the  Minutes  of  the  St.  David's 
Society,  the  Minutes  of  the  Welsh  Neck  Church,  Gregg's 
History  of  the  Old  Cheraws,  and  the  Furman-Botsford 
letters  are  the  groundwork  of  the  earlier  chapters.  My 
acknowledgments  are  due  especially  to  Professor  Ames 
and  to  Mr.  DuBose,  both  of  whom  read  portions  of  the 
manuscript,  corrected  some  errors,  made  some  sugges- 
tions, but  assumed  no  responsibility  for  the  narrative; 
but  all  this  kindly  and  generous  assistance  above  men- 
tioned would  have  been  of  no  avail,  if  Mr.  John  Wilkins 
Norwood  of  the  Norwood  National  Bank  of  Greenville 
had  not  been  an  active  cooperator  in  the  undertaking.  He 

vii 


PREFACE 

was  born  on  the  Pee  Dee  as  were  his  father  and  grand- 
father before  him.  To  his  admiration  of  sterling  charac- 
ter, business  capacity  and  integrity  wherever  found  is 
due  the  moral  and  financial  support  of  this  memorial  of 
the  self-reliant,  energetic,  resourceful  and  high-minded 
Pee  Deean,  David  Rogerson  Williams. 

Greenville,  S.  C,  September  25, 1915. 


vui 


CHAPTER 


II. 
III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 
XVII. 

XVIII. 
XIX. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  Great  Pedee  in  South  Carolina  and 

Its  First  Settlers 3 

Amalgamation,  Characteristics  and  the 

Family 13 

Slavery 19 

The  Welsh  Neck  Baptist  Church  and 

St.  David's  Society 31 

The  Ancestry,  Education  and  Marriage 

of  David  Rogerson  Williams      .      .  42 

His  Career  as  an  Editor      ....  52 

His  Honored  Mother 58 

In  the  Ninth  Congress 64 

In  the  Tenth  Congress 73 

In  the  Twelfth  Congress     ....  83 

His  Military  Services 98 

Governor  of  South  Carolina     .      .      .  106 

The  Close  of  His  Governorship     .      .  129 

The  Factory 138 

The   Problem   of   Transportation   and 

Travel 157 

Additions  to  Society 166 

The  Family  and  His  Provision  for  Its 

Future 174 

His  Interest  in  Education   ....  190 

Cotton  Oil  Factory 197 

ix 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PACE 

XX.     His  Main  Business 210 

XXI.     Unabated    Interest   in    His    Country's 

Welfare 235 

XXII.     Unabated    Interest   in    His    Country's 

Welfare  (Continued) 256 

XXIII.  His  Death  and  Burial 280 

XXIV.  His  Legacy  and  Descendants  .      .      .  288 
XXV.    The  Overflow 298 

Appendix 317 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY 

OF 

DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   GREAT  PEDEE   IN   SOUTH   CAROLINA  AND   ITS 
FIRST    SETTLERS 

THE  colony  at  Charles  Town  began,  after  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  1713,  to  stretch  out  its  hands 
for  the  trade  with  the  Indians.  One  rested 
at  Savannah  Town,  just  below  Hamburg  in  Edgefield 
District,  the  other  at  the  Congarees  near  Columbia. 
At  the  former  place,  a  market  was  opened  for  barter 
with  the  great  Indian  tribes,  the  Creeks,  the  Chickasaws 
and  the  Cherokees;  at  the  Congarees,  similar  arrange- 
ments were  made  to  accommodate  the  middle  and 
lower  Cherokees  and  the  Catawbas.  One  trail  from 
the  Congarees  led  northwesterly  toward  the  Blue  Ridge 
and  another  northeasterly  between  the  Broad  and 
Catawba,  toward  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Catawba 
Indians  (Logan).  The  Catawbas,  once  a  northern 
tribe,  had  been  pushed  southward  until  they  met  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  which  bears  their  name,  a  brave 
band  of  Cherokees  in  a  great  battle  which,  having  lasted 
the  whole  day,  was  concluded  with  articles  of  peace 
ever  afterward  to  be  observed.  The  territory  of  the 
Catawbas  extended  from  that  of  the  Cherokees  on  the 
west  and  southwest  far  eastward  beyond  the  Cape 
Fear  River,  including  the  upper  Pedee  (Gregg).  South 
of  them  and  part  of  them  finally,  was  the  dwindling 

3 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

band  of  the  Cheraws,  who  gave  their  name  to  the 
precinct. 

This  upper  Pedee,  not  lying  on  the  main  Indian  trails 
which  served  then  as  railroads  do  now,  was  in  the  back- 
woods and  not  generally  known  even  to  prospective 
settlers.  A  standard  geography  in  England  in  1758 
gave  the  "  Wateree,  Santee,  Cooper,  Ashly,  Coliton  and 
Savannah"  as  the  rivers  of  South  Carolina.  In  the 
period  1730-1765  the  great  Pedee  System,  which  drains 
over  17,000  square  miles  now  within  two  states,  was 
but  a  speck  on  the  map  to  British  eyes.  The  mother 
country  was  continuing  to  send  out  from  a  populous 
hive  swarms  of  human  beings,  as  adventurers,  traders, 
and  homeseekers;  and,  as  represented  by  the  govern- 
ment, it  was  a  great  radiator  of  energy  and  daring,  so 
conspicuous  and  successful  in  the  efforts  put  forth  in 
wresting  the  North  American  continent  and  the  rich 
trade  in  East  Indies  from  its  powerful  French  rivals. 

But  the  seemingly  neglected  upper  Pedee  was  being 
preserved,  unmolested  and  almost  unvisited  by  white 
men,  for  a  fresh  and  vigorous  race,  who  found  no  fault 
with  the  situation.  It  was  brought  more  prominently 
into  notice  in  1732,  when  the  township  of  Queensboro 
on  the  lower  Pedee  was  laid  out  and  offered  to  settlers 
in  tracts  of  fifty  acres  for  each  man,  woman  and  child 
who  would  occupy  and  improve  them  and,  after  the 
first  ten  years,  pay  annually  one  dollar  for  every  hun- 
dred acres.  When  the  settlers  in  the  Welsh  Tract  in 
Pennsylvania  heard  of  these  inducements,  several  of 
them  came  South  to  investigate  and  visit  the  townships 
opened  for  settlement.  They  were  hospitably  received 
and  at  their  request  173,840  acres  were  laid  off  for  the 
exclusive  habitation  of  the  Welsh.     The  immigrants 

4 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WCLLIAMS 

for  this  Welsh  Tract  which  was  extended  in  the  follow- 
ing year  up  the  river  were  expected  to  come  direct  from 
the  counties  of  Pembroke,  Carmarthen  in  Wales,  and 
from  the  Smaller  "Welsh  Tract"  of  30,000  acres  pur- 
chased in  Penn's  jurisdiction.  It  was  settled  first 
by  Welshmen  from  the  Welsh  Tract  church,  which,  be- 
coming a  prolific  mother,  sent  out  in  thirty-four  years 
successive  detachments,  north,  northeast,  south,  west, 
and  the  colony  to  the  distant  Pedee.  According  to 
Benedict,  there  arrived  on  the  Pedee,  in  1737,  James 
James  and  wife  and  three  sons — Philip,  who  was  their 
minister;  Abel,  Daniel  and  their  wives,  Daniel  Devonald 
and  wife,  Thomas  Evans  and  wife,  another  Evans  and 
wife,  John  Jones  and  wife,  three  of  the  Harrys — Thomas, 
David  and  John  and  his  wife — Samuel  Wild  and  wife, 
Samuel  Evans  and  wife,  and  David  and  Thomas  Jones 
and  their  wives.  These  thirty  members,  with  their 
children  and  households,  settled  at  a  place  called  Cat- 
fish, on  Pedee  River,  but  they  soon  removed  about 
fifty  miles  higher  up  the  same  river,  where  they  made 
a  permanent  settlement,  and  where  they  all,  except 
James  James,  who  died  at  Catfish,  were  embodied  into 
a  church,  January,  1738.  In  eight  years  the  best  land 
on  the  Pedee  had  been  taken  up  and  the  tide  of  im- 
migration had  turned  up  the  Saluda.  The  exclusive- 
ness  practiced  had  the  appearance  of  clannishness,  but 
when  so  many  thousands  of  acres  in  the  state  were 
waiting  for  an  owner,  it  loses  all  its  ugly  features.  It 
was  a  useful  precaution  at  the  time  and  passed  away 
insensibly  and  without  the  friction  which  accompanied 
ecclesiastical  and  political  discrimination.  The  ques- 
tions asked  were,  Is  he  a  Welshman?  Is  he  a  desirable 
character?    They  were  living  in  the  woods,  surrounded 

5 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

by  Indians,  with  whom  one  indiscreet  white  man  might 
embroil  the  whole  settlement.  They  feared  their 
white  neighbors  as  well  as  the  Indians  and  therefore 
kept  out  of  their  bailiwick  men  not  speaking  their  own 
language.  This  racial  fence  was  kept  up  perhaps  in 
the  lifetime  of  the  first  settlers  and  until  the  English 
language  was  coming  into  use.  It  was  long  enough  to 
give  their  principles  time  to  take  root  and  establish  a 
sort  of  hegemony  in  the  minds  of  men,  to  which  im- 
migrants from  other  allied  races  assented  as  an  excellent 
standard  for  the  community.  "The  country  being 
in  a  wilderness  state,'*  said  Bishop  Gregg,  "their  posi- 
tion isolated,  and  their  means  limited,  they  selected 
such  quantities  of  land,  as  suited  their  present  neces- 
sities, influenced  also,  to  some  extent,  by  the  consid- 
eration of  compactness,  which  gratified  their  social 
propensities  and  enabled  them  besides  to  concentrate 
against  sudden  incursions  of  the  Indians,  by  whom 
they  were  surrounded.  Here  on  a  virgin  soil,  they 
peacefully  pursued  their  agricultural  employments,  be- 
ing richly  rewarded  for  the  common  toils  and  hardships 
endured.  In  their  new  and  yet  wilderness  home,  drawn 
together  more  closely  than  by  the  common  ties  of  friend- 
ship and  of  blood,  surrounded  by  common  dangers, 
against  which  they  vigilantly  guarded,  with  common 
wants  and  necessities  sufficiently  supplied,  and  meeting 
weekly  around  the  consecrated  altar  to  worship  the  God 
of  their  fathers,  a  more  perfect  unity,  or  virtuous  and 
manly  life  can  scarcely  be  conceived.  Such  was  the 
scene  presented  by  this  infant  band  of  brothers  in  the 
early  days  of  their  history;  with  no  court  of  justice  in 
their  midst  to  which  conflicting  claims  and  angry  dis- 
putes might  be  referred,  and  no  frowning  gaol  for  the 

6 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

reception  of  the  criminal.  Nor  were  they  needed. 
Few  contentions  probably  were  known  and  the  voice 
of  Society,  though  newly  formed  in  this  Southern 
home,  was  potent  enough  to  silence  the  voice  of  the 
blasphemer  and  make  evil-minded  man  pause  in  his 
ways."  If  natural  laws  were  to  prevail  under  these 
circumstances,  the  good  seed,  brought  from  the  old 
world,  winnowed  from  chaff  and  noxious  weeds  and 
dropped  in  virgin  soil,  would  bring  forth  an  abundant 
harvest  of  good  qualities. 

The  Welsh  were  a  branch  of  the  great  Celtic  race 
which  belonged  to  the  same  stock  from  which  the 
Greeks,  Romans,  Germans,  and  English  descended. 
They  came  long  before  the  Christian  era  to  France  and 
the  British  Isles,  and  from  time  to  time  they  migrated 
in  great  bodies  eastward  and  became  the  terror  of 
Italy,  Greece,  and  Asia  Minor.  They  made  good  sol- 
diers before  whom  even  a  Roman  army  could  not  stand, 
but  being  deficient  in  political  capacity,  unattached  to 
their  native  soil  and  too  vain  to  labor  with  their  own 
hands,  they  were  sorry  citizens,  who  preferred  military 
and  plundering  expeditions  to  the  quietude  of  peaceful 
pursuits.  "They  shook  all  the  states,"  says  Mommsen, 
"but  nowhere  did  they  make  a  great  state  or  develop 
a  distinctive  culture  of  their  own,"  a  parallel  to  which  is 
found  in  the  misfortune  of  the  Irishman,  who  has  fought 
for  so  many  countries  and  so  unsuccessfully  for  his  own 
Erin.  Many  generations  passed  and  many  lessons  in 
the  school  of  experience  were  learned,  before  the  Welsh 
became  noted  for  virtues  which  were  conspicuously 
absent  from  their  brave  Celtic  ancestors.  As  to  the 
causes  of  some  of  the  changes  for  the  better,  the  remarks 
found  in  the  biography  of  J.  Glancy  Jones,  a  descendant 

7 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

of  a  Welsh  family  in  Pennsylvania,  are  luminous  and 
to  the  point: 

"The  little  remnant  of  the  ancient  Britons  who  had 
sought  the  security  of  the  mountains  of  Wales,  when 
they  were  driven  out  of  England  by  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
had  been  drawn  closer  by  their  adversities.  They 
became  more  clannish  in  their  mountain  fastnesses, 
more  tenacious  of  their  Celtic  language,  their  Celtic 
customs,  their  Celtic  traditions;  and  when  their  descend- 
ants went  up  to  London,  with  their  hearts  full  of  this 
clannishness,  to  confer  with  William  Penn  (himself  of 
Welsh  extraction)  about  the  newly  acquired  lands  in 
America,  it  was  to  secure  from  him  the  assurance  that 
if  they  went  there,  they  were  to  have  their  bounds  and 
limits  to  themselves,  within  which  all  causes,  quarrels, 
crimes,  and  titles  were  to  be  tried  and  wholly  deter- 
mined by  officers,  magistrates  and  juries  in  their  own 
language,  and  by  those  who  were  equals,  in  the  same 
manner  as  they  had  enjoyed  their  liberties  and  privileges 
in  the  land  of  their  nativity,  under  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land. They  impressed  upon  him,  with  all  the  vigor  of 
their  clannish  strength,  that  they  desired  to  be  by  them- 
selves in  this  new  and  strange  land,  to  live  together  as 
a  civil  society  without  the  intrusion  of  strangers,  to 
endeavor  to  decide  all  controversies  and  debates  in  a  gos- 
pel order,  and  not  to  entangle  themselves  with  laws  in  an 
unknown  tongue;  as  also  to  preserve  their  language  that 
they  might  ever  keep  correspondence  with  their  friends 
in  the  land  of  their  nativity.  .  .  .  They  knew  how 
the  English  and  the  Saxons  had  supplanted  their  ances- 
tors, the  Britons,  by  force,  and  brought  with  them  to 
the  shores  of  England  and  firmly  planted  there,  to  the 
exclusion  of  everything  else,  the  social  and  political  life 

8 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

of  their  Teutonic  fatherland ;  and  they  thought  it  would 
be  an  easy  matter  for  them  peacefully,  in  a  new  country, 
to  establish  a  Welsh  Colony,  where  they  might  retain 
the  cherished  associations  of  their  old  home  and  yet 
reap  the  advantages  of  this  new  and  promising  land. 
.  .  .  They  had  nothing  but  logs  to  build  their  houses 
with,  for  that  part  of  the  Welsh  Tract  was  the  'back 
country.'  Many  of  the  houses  had  not  even  locks  or 
bolts  on  their  doors.  There  were  not  many  roads  and 
the  few  they  had  were  little  better  than  trails.  .  .  . 
The  country  was  rich  in  soil,  climate  and  beautiful 
scenery,  but  the  landscapes  were  mild  compared  with 
the  bolder  landscapes  of  Wales.  The  trees  were  fine, 
game  was  abundant  and  though  the  conditions  were  as 
healthy  as  could  be  expected  in  a  newly  broken  country, 
it  was  not  long  before  there  were  many  graves. 

"Though  descended  from  a  brave  and  warlike  people, 
these  Welshmen  were  devoted  to  the  arts  of  peace. 
They  were  a  contented  and  prosperous  little  community. 
They  were  particular  in  their  personal  appearance  and 
in  their  linen.  The  men  dressed  in  buckskin  breeches 
and  plush  coats,  and  the  women  in  cambric,  fine  bon- 
nets and  silk.  They  were  clannish  and  impatient  of 
the  intrusion  of  strangers. 

"The  isolation  of  the  little  group  of  Welshmen  in- 
creased their  strength,  made  them  more  self-reliant, 
inter-dependent  and  concentrative.  It  developed  their 
strong  sense  of  brotherhood.  It  made  this  little  valley 
the  nursery  of  strong  men  who  went  out  from  it  in  later 
years  to  make  their  mark  in  the  world.  So  deeply  did 
the  strong  race  that  once  dwelt  there  make  its  impres- 
sion upon  the  land,  that  though  they  are  gone,  their 
unfading  memory  still  lingers  there,  intermingled  with 

9 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

the  sweet  fragrance  of  its  fields,  and  inseparably  associ- 
ated with  the  native  beauty,  fertile  stretches  and  grace- 
ful undulating  lowlands. 

"They  were  an  emotional,  proud,  elastic  people, 
with  a  quick  eye  for  the  beautiful  and  a  strong  instinct 
of  nobility.  They  loved  nature  and  everything  beauti- 
ful that  was  to  be  found  in  it.  To  their  romance  and 
their  fancy,  they  united  courage  and  the  more  prac- 
tical forms  of  life.  Nothing  of  the  narrowness  of  fa- 
naticism was  to  be  found  in  them.  They  were  broad  in 
their  aims  and  their  actions.  What  we  see  therefore, 
in  their  uneventful  lives,  is  not  unimportant.  It  be- 
comes valuable  to  the  biographer,  when  he  seeks  in  it, 
back  through  the  dim  vista  of  time,  the  origin  of  many 
of  those  fine  qualities  that  appear  afterwards  in  remote 
generations  of  their  descendants." 

An  appreciative  visitor  to  the  original  site  and 
neighborhood  of  the  Welsh  colony  on  the  Pedee  can 
heartily  assent  to  one  of  these  statements:  "So  deeply 
did  the  strong  race  that  once  dwelt  there  make  its 
impression  upon  the  land,  that  though  they  are  gone, 
their  unfading  memory  still  lingers  there,  intermingled 
with  the  sweet  fragrance  of  its  fields,  and  inseparably 
associated  with  the  native  beauty,  fertile  stretches  and 
graceful  undulating  lowlands";  but  in  respect  to  cloth- 
ing, it  may  be  surmised  that  the  Welsh  on  the  Pedee 
did  not  indulge  in  "buckskin  breeches  and  plush  coats 
and  the  women  in  cambric,  fine  bonnets  and  silk,"  or 
that  they  were  at  first  richly  rewarded  for  their  toils. 
They  did  not  suffer  for  food  or  other  necessaries,  but 
their  means  of  making  money  were  so  limited  that  they 
confessed  in  their  fourth  year  that  they  were  too  poor 
to  pay  the  cost  of  running  out  and  deeding  their  land. 

10 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

The  Council  at  Charleston,  to  encourage  them,  offered 
a  bounty  of  five  pounds  in  currency  for  each  barrel  of 
flour  weighing  two  hundred  pounds  they  brought  to 
the  city. 

In  all  other  respects  the  delineation  of  the  forests, 
houses,  and  characteristics  of  the  Welsh  in  Pennsyl- 
vania shows  that  the  South  Carolina  Colony  was  a 
chip  from  the  same  block.  These  emigrants  from  wild 
Wales  and  Pennsylvania  transplanted  themselves  on 
the  wild  Pedee,  which  they  found  adapted  to  agriculture 
and  stock  raising,  leading  pursuits  in  their  mother 
country,  and  developed  their  civilization,  Welsh  in  its 
texture,  but  modified  by  contact  with  hospitable  and 
worthy  neighbors.  They  were  no  doubt  familiar  with 
the  prophecy,  more  than  a  thousand  years  old,  uttered 
about  their  island  home,  whose  name,  like  its  territory, 
shrunk  up  from  Guallia,  Wallia  to  Wales: 

"Their  Lord  they  shall  praise 
Their  Tongue  they  shall  keep; 
Their  lands  they  shall  lose 
Except  wild  Wales." 

But  in  the  new  world  they  were  to  lose  their  tongue  and 
become  a  part  of  that  English  army  which,  with  axe 
and  plough  as  weapons,  helped  to  wrest  the  new  world 
from  the  French  and  the  Spanish. 

There  were  no  great  men  in  the  company  which  first 
settled  on  the  east  side  of  the  Pedee,  but  their  descend- 
ants have  shown  that  the  pioneers  were  men  and  women 
of  sturdy  virtues  and  no  mean  talents.  They  built  and 
graced  the  log  cabins  which  dotted  the  river  margin, 
made  them  centres  of  domestic  virtue  and  happiness, 
and  filled  their  humble  spheres  of  duty  to  their  offspring 

11 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

and,  better  than  they  knew,  to  the  state.  Their  last 
resting  place  is  still  pointed  out,  where  they  lie  in  un- 
marked graves,  overgrown  with  weeds,  overflowed  in 
the  great  freshets,  and  forgotten  almost  as  completely 
as  the  pater  noster  they  used  to  repeat  in  their  own 
dialect. 

Sources:  Logan's  History  of  Upper  South  Carolina, 
Gregg's  History  of  the  Old  Cheraws,  and  Benedict's 
History  of  the  Baptists,  original  in  their  contents; 
Jones'  Biography  of  J.  Glancy  Jones,  and  Woodward's 
Expansion  of  the  British  Empire. 


12 


/ 


CHAPTER  II 

AMALGAMATION,    CHARACTERISTICS    AND   THE   FAMILY 

THE  settlements  of  Welsh,  English,  Scotch,  Irish, 
French  and  German,  dotted  here  and  there, 
were  to  expand  and  cover  the  whole  state  and 
use  one  universal  language.  It  was  history  repeating 
itself.  Emigrants  to  a  new  country  from  closely  allied 
races,  or  speaking  dialects  of  the  same  language,  lose 
their  inveterate  antipathy  and,  after  two  or  three  gen- 
erations, amalgamate  so  completely  by  intermarriage 
that  the  children  of  later  generations  have  the  blood 
of  three  or  four  races  coursing  in  their  veins.  The 
descendants  of  these  early  immigrants  still  make  up  a 
large  part  of  the  98  per  cent,  of  the  present  native-born 
population.  None  of  the  branches  of  these  new  settlers 
remained  unmixed.  Even  the  Welsh,  with  their  segre- 
gating tendencies  ingrained  for  centuries,  could  not 
continue  in  their  separateness  and  clannishness;  but  in 
the  intermixture  along  the  Pedee  they  remained  the 
prepotent  factor.  Their  fine  qualities  and  discreet 
cohesive  power  were  all  in  their  favor;  and  they  were 
fortunate  in  their  amalgamation  with  excellent  incomers 
from  allied  stocks.* 

*Editor  John  E.  Williams  of  the  American  Pioneer  said  in  1843:  "If  you  will  look 
around  and  see  the  Joneses,  Evanses,  Thomases,  Johnses,  Edmundses,  Enoches,  Wil- 
liamses,  Cadwalladers,  Davises,  Jameses,  Robertses,  Owenses,  Philipses,  or  any  Chris- 
tian name  used  as  a  surname,  you  more  than  conjecture  the  extraction  to  be  Welsh; 

13 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

As  emigrants  they  differed  in  motives  and  in  character 
from  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  "who  emigrated  in  search  of 
the  freedom  of  worship  denied  them  in  their  own  coun- 
try." Nor  were  they  like  the  settlers  on  Massachu- 
setts Bay,  "where  the  public  opinion  was  intolerant  by 
conviction  and  neither  politician  nor  pastor  raised  a 
voice  for  freedom  of  worship,  where  a  question  of  church 
order  or  biblical  controversy  was  the  chief  concern  of 
life."  The  Welsh  differed  also  from  the  colony  at 
Charles  Town  with  its  classes  of  mixed  population  and 
unequal  opportunities  and  from  Maryland  and  Provi- 
dence, the  former  accepting  religious  toleration,  the 
latter  restricting  the  magistrate  to  the  province  of 
politics. 

They  were  like  the  Pilgrims  in  having  "taste  mainly 
for  country  life,  in  being  inured  to  self-denial,  thrift 
and  hard  work,  in  having  common  aims  and  beliefs, 
animated  by  high  motives  and  accustomed  to  act  to- 
gether for  their  joint  welfare";  and  they  agreed  with 
the  men  of  Massachusetts  in  their  valuation  of  learning, 
though  it  led  not  to  taxation  for  the  schools  but  to  a 
cultivated  private  liberality.  In  short  the  men  and 
women  on  the  Pedee  were  noble  by  nature.  Their 
history  was  marred  by  no  religious  fanaticism  which  led 
to  burning  witches,  hanging  Quakers  or  beating  dissent- 
ing preachers;  nor  by  political  inequalities  made  in  their 
own  interests.  It  was  a  place  where  Freedom  had  its 
sway  unconfined  save  by  the  moderation  of  sane  public 
opinion.     Had  the  Welsh  in  larger  numbers  settled  in  a 

just  as  sure  as  son  is  English,  Mac  is  Scottish,  O  and  Fiti,  Irish,  Van,  Dutch,  and  Dt 
and  La  French."  He  gave  his  fellow-Welshman  the  name  of  a  fearnaught,  restless, 
go-ahead  people.  The  Celtic  people  were  easily  moved  en  masse  and  their  amalga- 
mation on  the  Pedee  balanced  that  tendency  with  the  Teutonic  sense  of  individuality, 
or  the  Anglican  love  of  personal  liberty. 

14 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

strategic  position  like  Massachusetts  and  leavened  the 
new  world,  the  history  of  the  United  States  might  have 
been  a  more  attractive  study. 

In  their  social  relations  there  was  freedom  within 
legitimate  bounds.  In  the  family,  the  father  was  the 
legal  and  nominal  head  and  in  field  and  farm  he  was 
master  and  director.  His  primacy  in  the  family  rested 
also  on  a  moral  basis.  He  took  to  money  making  as 
naturally  as  birds  do  to  the  air;  and  behind  all  his 
planning  and  industry  were  the  love  of  his  wife  and 
children  and  respect  for  the  community's  name  and 
welfare.  To  the  wife  as  the  weaker  vessel  was  ac- 
corded the  highest  place  in  the  heart  and  home  and  as 
mother  she  shone  in  the  graces  of  her  daughters  and  in 
the  manly  virtues  of  her  husband  and  sons.  The 
mother  and  the  daughters,  to  whom  all  paid  deference, 
belonged  to  the  household  and  were  therefore  excused 
from  labor  on  the  roads,  sitting  on  juries  and  from 
military  service.  The  men  belonged  to  the  state  as 
well  as  to  the  family  and  were  liable  in  any  emergency 
to  be  called  out  from  home.  In  the  earlier  times  the 
sons  were  sometimes  more  carefully  educated  than  the 
daughters,  whose  training  in  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic  and  comely  conduct  was  a  sufficient  female 
adornment.  The  authority  of  the  parents  as  a  rule 
was  exercised  with  discretion,  and  in  not  a  few  families 
there  was  a  subordination  of  parts,  due  to  strength  and 
weakness,  affection  and  reverence,  that  left  no  room 
for  friction.  Such  harmony  makes  a  family  become 
an  organism,  with  its  members  sympathetically  united 
and  contributing  each  its  share  to  the  efficiency  and 
happiness  of  the  whole.  In  a  similar  arrangement  of 
its  members,  an  apostle  and  a  pagan  philosopher  saw, 

15 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

one  the  possibility  of  a  perfect  church,  the  other  of  a 
perfect  state. 

Underneath  the  family  and  a  part  of  its  possessions 
was  a  class  of  colored  dependents  or  slaves,  varying  in 
number  from  one  to  several  hundred.  Their  habitation 
was  generally  in  the  yard  or  in  small  houses  conveni- 
ently situated  near  the  "big  house."  There  was  in 
consequence  a  division  of  labor  in  the  master's  family. 
The  mistress  with  her  chosen  female  servants  cared 
for  the  house  and  table,  the  milking,  and  making  of 
cloth  and  garments  for  the  establishment.  Large 
numbers  of  cows  filled  the  pen  at  night  and  furnished 
milk  and  butter  as  well  as  beef,  hides,  and  yearlings  to 
be  sold  in  the  market.  The  spinning  wheel  made  music 
before  the  piano  appeared  in  the  home,  and  prepared 
wool  and  cotton  for  the  loom.  Excepting  in  the  color 
of  the  slaves,  Penelope  in  Homer's  Odyssey,  three 
thousand  years  ago,  would  have  been  at  home  on  the 
Pedee  with  her  industrious  servants. 

It  was  the  master's  function  to  plan  and  plant  such 
crops  and  direct  the  labor  of  his  "hands"  in  a  way  that 
the  whole  family  might  be  self-supporting  and  that 
there  might  be  some  compensation  for  supervision. 
Subservient  to  this  purpose,  nearby  the  home  were  built 
blacksmith  and  carpenter  shops,  where  skilled  artisans 
made  themselves  useful  in  rainy  weather  and  in  emer- 
gencies. Early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  the  cotton 
gin  and  screw  became  a  necessary  adjunct  for  the 
preparation  of  the  cotton  for  sale  and  exportation. 
Prior  to  the  appearance  of  the  gin,  a  flock  of  sheep  and 
a  patch  of  cotton,  with  its  seed  picked  out  by  hand, 
furnished  the  material  for  the  use  of  the  spinner  and 
the  weaver. 

16 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

The  woods  were  kept  stocked  with  swine  and  the  crop 
of  acorns,  sometimes  killed  by  the  frost,  was  watched 
by  the  farmers  with  the  same  interest  they  noticed 
their  growing  corn.  When  abundant,  the  mast  made 
the  shotes  sleek  for  the  fattening  pen  and  less  corn 
needful  in  fitting  them  for  slaughter  on  some  crisp 
December  morning,  when  the  whole  force  congregated 
to  convert  by  laborious  processes  the  living  rooters  into 
palatable  pork.  The  hams  in  the  Cheraw  precinct 
attained  a  celebrity  and  retained  it  until  cotton  and 
negroes  lessened  the  amount  for  sale.  As  late  as  1812 
it  was  sold  in  Charleston,  "in  small  handy  casks  of  200 
pounds,  suitable  for  family  use."  It  was  pronounced 
to  be  "of  superior  quality,  well  saltpetred  and  war- 
ranted sound." 

A  full  smokehouse  was  a  necessity  for  the  backwoods 
paterfamilias  and  some  of  them  continued  in  the 
provident  mood  to  the  end  of  slavery.  In  the  forties 
and  earlier  Kentuckians  had  established  a  hog  route  to 
Greenville,  South  Carolina,  with  stations  ten  miles 
apart,  along  which  were  driven  fifty  to  eighty  thousand 
fat  swine,  averaging  300  pounds,  to  be  distributed 
among  the  cotton  planters. 

Among  the  crops  outside  of  cotton,  corn  was  the  great 
staple.  The  vine  followed  the  Greeks,  wheat  the 
Romans  and  cotton  the  Arabs  (Humbolt).  Maize  or 
Indian  corn  followed  the  Indian,  while  his  successor,  the 
white  man,  in  one  part  or  another  of  his  great  country, 
has  been  followed  by  all  the  great  crops.  Wheat  has 
furnished  the  best  bread,  but  corn,  being  prolific  and 
cosmopolitan,  is  the  most  valuable  of  all  the  cereals. 
It  is  the  gift  of  a  beneficent  Creator  who  designed  that 
the  provident  man  and  his  beasts  should  live  in  abun- 

17 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

dance.  The  intelligent  master  said  in  substance  to  his 
slaves:  "You  must  labor  and  be  obedient.  In  return 
for  your  labor,  I  give  you  food  and  raiment  and  care  for 
your  health.  You  shall  not  beg  in  your  old  age  nor  fill 
a  pauper's  grave."  The  great  majority  of  the  slaves 
were  light-hearted  and  chafed  not  at  their  lot.  They 
lived  in  the  present,  were  social,  musical,  and  even 
hilarious  where  noise  was  not  forbidden.  Their  wants 
were  few  and  simple,  and  having  no  anxiety  for  the  fu- 
ture they  received  at  birth  the  ability  to  say  what  cost 
the  apostle  Paul  much  tribulation,  "I  have  learned  in 
whatever  state  I  am  therein  to  be  content."  But  there 
were  evil  masters  who  sinned  greatly  against  their  hu- 
man chattels,  and  there  were  both  men  and  women 
slaves  who  were  insubordinate,  not  in  the  interest  of 
their  freedom,  but  out  of  motives  not  far  from  brutish, 
causing  severe  punishment.  The  runaways  graduated 
out  of  this  latter  class,  both  male  and  female;  but  as  the 
years  passed  and  they  outlived  their  native  wildness, 
absconding  slaves  became  relatively  fewer  in  number. 
The  lot  of  the  slave  under  white  or  colored  superintend- 
ents and  in  families  ambitious  to  increase  their  posses- 
sions was  harder  than  that  of  the  servants  who  lived 
under  the  direct  supervision  of  well-to-do  masters. 
Such  was  the  family  on  the  Pedee  and  like  it  on  an 
extended  scale  was  the  community. 


18 


CHAPTER  III 

SLAVERY 

SLAVERY  had  its  place  in  the  industrial  develop- 
ment of  the  world.  Whether  right  or  wrong, 
the  Creator  made  the  stronger  men  and  animals 
with  such  instincts  that  they  used  and  still  use  the 
weaker  for  their  own  advantage.  On  the  supposition 
that  the  inferior  was  made  for  the  benefit  of  the  superior, 
man  harnessed  the  dog,  ox,  horse,  mule,  and  with  Dar- 
winian philosophy  yoked  his  weaker  fellowmen  and 
those  least  removed  from  the  "missing  link,"  to  do 
his  own  work  and  bidding;  and  as  he  developed  in  men- 
tal capacity,  he  utilized  the  wind,  water,  steam  and 
electricity  to  take  the  place  of  menial  and  animal  labor. 
Inventions  and  labor-saving  devices  and  the  leavening 
of  society  with  altruistic  sentiments,  have  aided  in 
changing  one  phase  of  slavery  for  another  and  gener- 
ally of  a  milder  form.  Great  Britain  freed  her  chattel 
slaves  but  continued  to  hold  so  many  millions  of  free- 
men tributary  that  it  was  said  at  the  time  for  every 
person  in  England  there  were  two  hundred  and  fifty 
tributary  subjects;  and  when  four  millions  of  slaves 
valued  at  two  billions  of  dollars  were  freed  in  1865,  the 
money  power  which  made  emancipation  possible,  sub- 
stituted for  it,  in  its  own  interests,  an  annual  tribute 
from  the  whole  country,  amounting  in  the  best  years 

19 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

to  a  sum  equal  to  the  total  value  of  the  manumitted 
slaves;  and  the  masters  of  slaves  became  the  masters 
of  free  laborers. 

It  cannot  be  claimed  that  slavery  in  the  past  has  been 
incompatible  with  the  highest  civilization.  Athens, 
the  home  of  many  slaves,  not  Africans  but  men  and 
women  of  better  races,  has  remained  for  more  than  two 
millenniums  the  intellectual  and  artistic  teacher  of 
every  later  generation;  and  Rome,  where  the  legal 
relation  of  the  wife,  son  and  daughter  to  the  father  of 
the  family  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  slave,  is  still  the 
instructor  in  politics  and  jurisprudence.  In  the  days  of 
American  slavery,  the  downfall  of  Rome  was  confidently 
attributed  to  her  slave  system,  but  to-day  other  faddists 
find  the  cause  of  her  fall  in  the  hookworm  introduced 
from  Africa  or  in  the  loss  of  the  best  men  in  the  con- 
tinuous warfare,  or  in  the  urbanization  of  the  people. 

It  was  found  out  by  the  Europeans  engaged  in  the 
business  of  enslaving  their  less  civilized  fellows,  that 
the  Africans  were  the  ablest  physically  and  the  most 
suitably  endowed  by  nature  to  be  submissive  to  the 
rule  of  a  master.  They  soon  learned  to  wear  the  yoke, 
adapt  themselves  to  their  sphere  and  become  attached 
to  their  masters  and  mistresses.  The  Welsh  had  no 
scruples  in  reference  to  slavery  before  they  left  their 
northern  homes,  and  now  ensconced  in  their  forest 
possessions  they  soon  found  these  sable  laborers  useful 
in  field  work  and  in  tending  their  cattle.  Slaves  were 
brought  up  the  river  and  from  more  northern  colonies 
byfimmigrants  or  in  exchange  for  cattle  and  farm  prod- 
ucts; but  the  upper  Pedee  lost  its  proportion  of  the 
25,000  carried  off  by  the  British  in  the  Revolution. 
The  census  of  1790  reported  that  there  were  140,000 

20 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

whites  and  108,805  negroes  in  South  Carolina.  The 
limitation  of  the  period  1788  to  1808  as  the  lawful 
time  for  the  importation  of  slaves,  made  the  traffic 
lively  among  the  European  and  northern  ship  owners. 
In  November,  1803,  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina 
removed  the  restrictions  against  the  trade,  and  within 
five  hours  after  the  news  reached  Charleston,  two  large 
British  Guineamen  came  into  the  city  and  sold  their 
cargoes  of  human  freight.  In  the  next  four  years 
40,000  Africans  landed  at  Charleston  to  be  distributed 
over  the  state  and  as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi.  To 
be  strictly  accurate,  from  January  1,  1804,  to  December 
31, 1807,  thirty-nine  thousand  and  seventy-five  Africans 
were  brought  into  Charleston.  Of  this  number  21,027 
were  brought  in  by  foreigners.  Citizens  whose  states 
had  repudiated  slavery  imported  14,605;  the  South 
brought  in  3,443.  Of  the  202  vessels  which  brought 
cargoes,  Britain  owned  70,  Charleston  61,  Rhode  Island 
59;  of  202  consignees,  13  were  natives  of  Charleston,  88 
of  Rhode  Island,  91  of  Britain,  10  of  France.  The  in- 
vestments offered  by  this  traffic  depleted  the  banks  at 
Charleston  and  stretched  credit  generally  to  the  snapping 
point.  Negroes  had  also  been  introduced  into  the  north- 
ern colonies  but  their  unprofitableness  gave  slavery  an 
easy  death  or  caused  them  to  be  sold  in  climates  where 
their  labor  was  more  valuable. 

The  Quakers  were  the  first  to  oppose  slavery  from 
humane  considerations.  There  was  a  settlement  of 
them  in  Newberry  District,  which  suffered  in  the  Revo- 
lution. Early  in  the  new  century,  they  numbered  five 
hundred,  owned  farms,  supported  a  pastor  and  were 
excellent  citizens;  but  after  the  San  Domingo  massacres 
they  were  made  restless  by  a  visiting  minister,  Zachary 

21 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Dicks,  who  predicted  that  similar  massacres  would  take 
place  among  slaveholders  in  this  country.  They  sold 
out  and  went  to  Ohio,  where  their  descendants,  opposed 
to  war,  doubtless  helped  to  make  it  necessary  for  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  to  send  as  voters  into  Ohio,  soldiers  from 
New  England  and  other  places,  to  defeat  Vallandigham, 
the  people's  choice  for  governor,  and  thereby  to  bring 
it  about  that  "a  government  of  the  people,  for  the 
people  and  by  the  people  might  not  perish  from  the 
earth!"  Several  families  of  the  Quakers  remained  in 
the  state,  one  of  which  furnished  a  Chief  Justice  and 
— a  thing  of  more  value  now — the  author  of  the  "An- 
nals of  Newberry  and  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  South 
Carolina." 

It  has  often  been  claimed  that  slavery  hurt  the  master 
more  than  the  slave  who  had  been  dragged  unwillingly 
from  his  haunts  of  ignorance  and  superstition  and 
brought  into  contact  with  civilization.  There  was 
some  truth  in  the  assertion.  The  unskilled  laborer 
hindered  the  use  of  labor-saving  machinery.  Less 
progress  in  agriculture  and  less  diversification  in  the 
pursuits  of  life  and  less  accumulation  of  property  were 
the  inevitable  results.*    The  negro  was  three-fifths  of  a 

*The  slave  was  dear  to  the  owner,  but  profitable  to  the  state.  He  had  to  be  bought 
at  a  high  price,  fed,  clothed,  cared  for  in  sickness  and  in  old  age  and  buried  when  his 
toils  were  over;  and  the  more  cotton  he  made  the  less  it  brought.  The  master  had  cog- 
nizance of  the  petty  thefts  and  misdemeanors  and  corrected  them  at  home  and  not  in 
the  courts.  In  June,  i860,  Georgia  with  a  population  of  43,684  white  illiterates  and 
$00,000  slaves,  had  101  in  jail,  but  Massachusetts  with  46,262  illiterates  had  1,161  in 
jails.  (Dodd.)  The  difference  in  the  expense  of  a  southern  government  prior  to  1861 
and  that  of  a  free  state  did  not  end  here.  The  state  government  of  South  Carolina, 
for  instance,  was  a  model  of  economy  and  efficiency  and  in  freedom  from  graft. 
Wealthy  candidates  for  office,  prompted  by  the  love  of  honor  and  success,  often  spent 
large  sums  of  money,  but  they  would  have  parted  with  their  right  hands  sooner  than 
stoop  to  crooked  ways  of  replenishing  their  coffers.  Avarice  was  not  a  dominating 
motive. 

22 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

man  as  a  slave,  and  as  a  freedman  he  retains  about 
the  same  relation  to  the  white  laborer.  As  a  domestic 
servant  he  had  no  equal.  If  slavery  had  not  been 
interwoven  with  politics  it,  too,  would  have  found  an 
end  by  euthanasia,  the  easy  death,  which  was  coming 
by  the  unprofitableness  of  unskilled  labor  in  the  pro- 
duction of  agricultural  products.  Slaves  had  for  the 
most  part  to  live  in  the  country.  There  were  no  large 
cities  in  the  South,  about  fifteen-sixteenths  of  the 
population  being  on  the  farms.  Economists  of  that 
day  calculated  that  thirty-five  or  forty  to  the  square 
mile  was  about  as  large  a  population  as  slave  labor 
could  support.  Delaware  and  parts  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia  had  already  approached  this  average,  and  slave 
labor  could  scarcely  support  itself.  When  the  popula- 
tion reached  110  to  the  square  mile,  men,  whether  bond 
or  free,  could  not  support  themselves.  And  on  this  basis 
certain  economists  calculated  that  the  South  by  1887 
would  average  40  to  the  square  mile  which  would  make 
slave  labor  of  little  value,  and  by  1926  the  increased 
population  would  make  it  a  positive  burden.  Whether 
their  figures  were  right  or  wrong,  the  general  conclusion 
was  correct  and  slavery  would  have  found  its  end  by 
degrees,  with  less  loss  to  the  masters,  and  more  profit 
and  happiness  to  the  freedmen  had  it  been  suffered  to 
run  its  own  course  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  according  to  the  original  "scrap  of  paper." 

The  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  multiplied  the  value 
of  the  slave  and  made  him  a  fixture  in  the  cotton  belt. 
It  was  cotton  and  not  the  negro,  or  rather  it  was  cotton 
with  the  negro,  that  made  too  many  Southern  farmers 
invest  all  their  earnings  in  the  plantation  and  hands. 
Indirectly  the  negro  was  in  the  way  of  manufactures 

23 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

and,  therefore,  of  the  poorer  white  families  who  would 
have  been  employed  in  them.  Prejudice  against 
slavery  sent  the  immigrants  in  great  numbers  to  in- 
crease the  wealth  and  population  of  the  free  states; 
but  it  also  acted  as  a  preservative  against  a  European 
inundation  of  the  Southern  States  and  preserved  that 
section  for  the  descendants  of  the  first  settlers.  Helper, 
a  Southern  writer  in  the  late  fifties,  endeavored  to  show 
what  an  incubus  slavery  was  to  the  South,  and  his  effort 
was  rewarded  by  the  sale  of  near  one  million  copies  of 
his  work.  And  in  a  higher  realm  than  money  matters, 
a  master  or  any  stronger  man  suffers,  when  for  any  rea- 
son he  is  cruel  to  man  or  beast.  His  relationship  to  re- 
fractory or  rebellious  slaves  was  the  same  in  essence  as 
that  between  a  government  and  its  rebels.  Both  the 
master  and  the  government  have  the  same  temptations 
to  be  cruel  in  the  exercise  of  physical  force  and  to  show 
that  they  are  no  nearer  the  golden  rule  than  their  far- 
off  ancestors.  Slaveholding  was  imperialism  in  small 
change  and  it  placed  in  the  will  of  the  master  a  power 
which  few  men  and  fewer  governments  have  been  found 
sane  and  wise  enough  not  to  abuse. 

An  unmoral,  not  to  say  immoral,  race  in  the  midst  of 
a  superior  one  has  its  points  of  unwholesome  contact. 
Inferior  in  morals  and  in  station,  it  is  bound  to  exert  a 
deteriorating  influence.  The  three  great  impulses  to 
human  activity  are  the  desire  of  food,  of  drink,  and 
love  (Plato);  and  their  excesses  are  called  gluttony, 
drunkenness  and  licentiousness.  The  last  flourished 
among  the  Africans  not  less  than  among  the  more 
cultivated  races.  This  evil  and  gambling  have  ever 
been  evidences  of  the  unity  of  the  human  family;  but  it 
was  the  interest  of  the  master  and  in  his  power  to  pro- 

24 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

tect  his  chattels  from  the  other  two  vices.  Had  the 
late  comers  from  Africa  had  free  access  to  intoxicants, 
they  would  have  degenerated  like  the  Indians.  The 
allowance  of  food  kept  them  strong  and  free  from  dis- 
eases to  which  free  men  were  liable.  In  trials  made 
with  Irish  ditchers  who  were  among  the  best  white 
laborers  in  antebellum  times,  as  well  as  voracious 
eaters,  the  negroes'  superiority,  where  physical  strength 
counted,  was  easily  established. 

The  leisure  afforded  the  master  and  his  family  was 
not  all  wasted.  It  led  them  to  cultivate  their  minds 
and  morals,  and  become  more  useful  in  society.  The 
bookstores  found  their  best  customers  at  the  South, 
where  the  leisure  and  responsibility  as  imperialists  caused 
them  to  cultivate  hospitality  and  a  high  sense  of  honor. 
Their  very  station  made  them  statesmen .  Feudalism  had 
feudal  obligations  and  it  was  this  as  well  as  descent  from 
a  great  race  which  cooperated  in  making  it  possible  for 
Senator  Hoar  of  Massachusetts  to  pay  the  Southern 
gentleman  a  tribute  as  generous  as  it  was  unexpected: 
"They  have  an  aptness  for  command,  which  makes  the 
Southern  gentleman,  wherever  he  goes,  not  a  peer  only 
but  a  prince.  They  have  the  best  of  them  and  the 
most  of  them  inherited  from  the  great  race  from  which 
they  came  the  sense  of  duty  and  the  instinct  of  honor  as 
no  other  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  They  are 
lovers  of  home.  They  have  not  the  mean  traits  which 
grow  elsewhere  in  places  where  money  making  is  the 
chief  end  of  life.  They  have  above  all  and  giving  value 
to  all,  that  supreme  and  superb  constancy,  which  with- 
out regard  to  personal  ambition  and  without  yielding 
to  the  temptations  of  wealth,  without  getting  tired  and 
without  getting  diverted,  can  pursue  a  great  public 

25 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

object,  in  and  out,  year  after  year,  and  generation  after 
generation."  Where  his  lot  was  cast  with  a  tolerable 
master,  the  African  was  not  so  unhappy  as  the  corres- 
ponding free  stratum  in  other  countries.  The  ground 
for  this  statement  is  ample,  found  in  contemporary 
anti-slavery  writings,  and  from  the  testimony  of  some 
living  ex-slaves  who  look  back  on  slavery  days  as  better 
than  those  enjoyed  in  freedom.  A  colored  speaker 
declared  before  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  in 
1914  that  he  would  prefer  to  be  a  slave  of  a  Southern 
master  than  be  a  freeman  in  Africa.  From  the  days  of 
Abraham  down  to  the  memory  of  men  still  living  slavery 
flourished,  being  recognized  by  pagan,  Jewish,  and 
Christian  religions;  but  there  was  something  unique  in 
American  slavery.  Slavery  in  other  cases  meant  degra- 
dation; but  to  an  African  it  was  the  road  to  elevation. 
The  first  steps  of  improvement — industry,  obedience 
to  authority,  and  provident  forethought — were  taught 
him,  but  his  servitude  was  too  short  for  the  thorough 
inculcation  of  these  lessons.  It  was  long  enough  to  be 
helpful  and  to  bring  to  light  some  of  his  better  traits. 
Sincere  attachments  between  the  servants  and  their 
masters  and  mistresses  were  frequent  and  many  of  them 
continued  after  their  relationship  ceased.  In  the 
settlements  where  wealthy  men  kept  a  colony  in  the 
yard,  an  aristocratic  sentiment  appeared  as  in  great 
Roman  families  and  made  them  look  down  upon  the 
less  favored  freemen  as  "poor  white  trash."  Even 
the  free  negro  was  by  some  reckoned  in  a  lower  scale. 
In  a  quarrel  (heard  by  W.  C.  Preston)  between  a  f reed- 
man  and  a  slave,  the  latter's  parting  shot  was,  "What 
are  you  anyhow?  You  are  nothing  but  a  free  nigger. 
You  have  no  massa." 

26 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

It  was  said  by  a  Greek  poet  that  a  slave  was  only  half 
a  man.  And  yet  the  African  half -man  illustrated  in 
one  respect  the  stoic  maxims,  "Wherever  a  man  can 
live,  he  can  live  well";  "Very  little  is  necessary  to 
live  happily."  Even  in  servitude,  there  was  developed 
and  made  manifest  one  racial  virtue  in  times  when  no 
white  race  could  have  resisted  the  temptation  to  for- 
swear fidelity  to  his  master.  When  Great  Britain 
began  the  Revolutionary  contest,  her  representatives 
were  able  to  incite  the  Indians  to  war  on  the  Colonies; 
but  the  emancipation  proclamation  and  the  opportun- 
ity to  enlist  in  the  Union  armies  found  little  response 
among  the  great  body  of  slaves  whose  masters  were  not 
made  refugees  by  the  invading  army.  It  was  in  their 
power  to  light  up  fires  from  Virginia  to  Texas,  but 
instead  of  that  natural  course,  they  made  provisions 
both  for  home  use  and  for  the  army,  built  the  breast- 
works to  defend  their  masters  and  with  the  greatest 
fidelity  protected  their  unguarded  families  at  home. 
When  the  tidings  of  the  burning  of  Columbia  reached 
the  north,  Philip  Brooks,  the  great  northern  preacher, 
exclaimed,  "Isn't  Sherman  a  dandy!"  but  the  un- 
sophisticated negro  looked  upon  the  undreamed  of 
sights  with  mouth  wide  open,  just  as  he  did  when  his 
master  used  to  read  to  him  about  the  Beasts  in  Revela- 
tion! A  part  of  the  race  was  in  contact  with  the 
splendors  of  the  Pharaohs  and  might  have  profited  by 
the  civilization  of  Greece  or  Rome  or  later  nations,  but 
no  part  of  the  negro  race  has  ever  threatened  with  vi- 
olence a  civilized  state  or  built  up  a  civilization  of  its 
own ;  and  to-day  the  race  rises  by  imitation  of  the  older 
one,  and  not  yet  appreciably  from  native  forces  devel- 
oping within  their  own  activities. 

27 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Fifty  years  have  passed  since  the  negroes  were  freed 
by  no  virtue  or  fault  of  their  own.  No  wars  were  ever 
fought  to  free  slaves;  but  laws  as  powerful  as  gravitation 
have  worked  silently  to  emancipate  both  men  and 
women.  The  catastrophe  in  1860-65  was  wound  up 
in  the  friction  between  two  great  parties — centripetal 
and  centrifugal — which  were  trying,  the  one  to  make 
the  federal  government  stronger  than  the  states,  the 
other  in  trying  to  keep  the  states  unimpaired  in  their 
functions.  The  freeing  of  the  slaves  was  done  in  the 
passions  excited  by  the  war,  and  to  the  exigency  of 
party  politics  must  be  credited  the  raising  of  the 
African  from  the  state  of  slavery  to  that  of  citizen, 
above  their  former  masters.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
how  some  of  the  thoughtful  European  scholars  are 
thinking  on  the  subject.  Hugo  Mtinsterberg  of  Ger- 
many, now  in  Harvard  University,  says  in  his  book  on 
"Americans": 

"Europe  has  so  far  considered  only  one  feature  of 
the  negro  question — that  of  slavery.  All  Europe  read 
*  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin'  and  thought  the  difficulty  solved 
as  soon  as  the  negro  was  freed  from  his  chains  and  the 
poorest  negro  came  into  his  human  right  of  freedom. 
Europe  was  not  aware  that  in  this  wise  still  greater 
problems  were  created,  and  that  greater  springs  of 
misery  and  misfortune  for  the  negro  there  took  their 
origin.  .  .  .  But  all  students  of  the  South  believe 
that  this  hatred  (between  the  races)  has  come  about 
wholly  since  the  negro  was  declared  free.  The  slave 
was  faithful  and  devoted  to  his  master,  who  took  care 
of  him.  ...  A  patriarchal  condition  prevailed 
in  the  South  before  the  war,  in  spite  of  the  representa- 
tions made  by  political  visionaries.     Indeed  it  is  some- 

28 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

times  difficult  not  to  doubt  whether  it  was  necessary 
to  do  away  with  slavery  so  suddenly  and  forcibly: 
whether  a  good  deal  of  self-respect  would  not  have  been 
saved  on  both  sides,  and  endless  hatred,  embitterment, 
and  misery  spared,  if  the  Northern  states  had  left  the 
negro  question  to  itself,  to  be  solved  through  organic 
rather  than  mechanical  means. 

"It  is  too  late  to  philosophize  on  this  point:  doctri- 
narianism  has  shaped  the  situation  otherwise.  The  arms 
of  the  Civil  War  have  decided  in  favor  of  the  North. 
It  is  dismal,  but  it  must  be  said  that  the  actual  events 
of  the  ensuing  years  of  peace  have  decided  rather  in 
favor  of  the  view  of  the  South." 

In  speaking  to  a  Boston  audience,  Prof.  J.  P.  Ma- 
haffy,  professor  of  Greek  in  Dublin  University,  said: 
"That  the  fact  that  all  the  Greek  world  held  slaves  is 
another  antiquated  standpoint,  which  prevents  them 
from  being  fit  teachers  for  modern  nations.  But  to 
me  that  question  does  not  appear  so  simple,  and  perhaps 
with  the  experience  of  the  past  forty  years,  even  the 
American  public  that  has  time  for  reflection  may  have 
some  doubts  on  the  matter.  So  great  a  thinker  as 
Aristotle  felt  quite  clear  about  it;  he  believed  there  were 
inferior  races,  fit  only  to  be  controlled,  not  to  control, 
and  he  held  it  was  for  their  good  when  they  were  coerced 
by  the  superior  intelligence  and  education  of  the 
Greeks."  When  the  powerful  brute  force  of  one  side 
put  an  end  to  slavery,  a  Northern  philanthropic  element 
lavished  its  money  freely  that  the  ignorant  slaves  might 
be  educated  citizens;  but  in  this,  too,  the  ardor  has  cooled 
itself  by  actual  results.  The  pot  boiling  over  extin- 
guishes the  fire  beneath.  A  philosophical  reason  for  it 
may   be  found  in  Herbert  Spencer's   "Psychology": 

29 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

"One  of  the  reasons  assigned  in  the  United  States  for 
not  educating  negro  children  with  white  children  has 
been  that  after  a  certain  age  they  'do  not  correspond- 
ingly advance  in  learning,  their  intellect  being  apparently 
incapable  of  being  cultured  beyond  a  particular  point.' 
But  this  statement,  which  might  be  suspected  of  bias, 
agrees  with  that  made  by  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  who  says: 
1  In  childhood,  I  believe  the  negro  to  be  in  advance  in 
intellectual  quickness  of  the  white  child  of  a  similar 
age,  but  the  mind  does  not  expand — it  promises  fruit — 
but  does  not  ripen,' "  and  more  in  amplification  of  the 
theory. 

Sources:  O'Neall's  Annals  of  Newberry,  Judge 
Smith's  Speech  on  Slavery,  December,  1820;  the 
Southern  Quarterly  Review,  1846,  Woodward's  Expan- 
sion of  the  British  Empire,  Thomas'  Reminiscences, 
Winkler  in  International  Review,  1874,  and  Mrs.  Caro- 
line Whitman's  Family  Reminiscences. 


30 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    WELSH    NECK    BAPTIST    CHURCH    AND    ST.    DAVID'S 

SOCIETY 

THE  allotment  of  lands  in  Graven  County,  in 
which  the  Welsh  occupied  the  central  and 
strategic  position,  was  made  in  clear  daylight, 
and  notwithstanding  the  fires,  earthquakes  and  wars 
which  devasted  the  City  by  the  Sea,  the  records  are 
still  worth  the  trouble  of  investigation.  George  II 
was  the  grantor,  and  names  of  grantees  are  yet  preserved 
in  the  archives  of  the  state  and  partly  in  the  Charleston 
library.  The  provincial  government  offered  induce- 
ments to  prospective  settlers  and  treated  them  with 
liberality  and  exercised  patience  when  dues  were  slow 
to  come  in;  but  it  was  either  unable  or  unwilling  to 
extend  the  protection  of  the  laws  over  the  distant 
frontiers.  The  machinery  of  the  government  was 
centrally  located,  and  some  twenty-five  years  elapsed 
while  the  frontiersmen  were  neither  under  nor  outside 
of  the  government  at  Charles  Town. 

It  was  a  situation  in  which  moral  and  religious  senti- 
ment of  the  community  by  its  mere  weight  served, 
while  in  this  isolation,  as  a  good  substitute  for  govern- 
ment. Five  years  after  their  log  huts  had  been  raised, 
the  Welsh  met  in  the  house  of  John  Jones*  and  in  due 

*John  Jones  lived  on  and  east  of  the  Pedee;  William  Hughes  was  his  neighbor  on 
the  ea$t.     He  got  three  deeds  for  750  acres  in  1743  and  1744. 

31 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

time  their  gatherings  were  transferred  to  the  meeting 
house  built  by  the  church  and  community.  The  Welsh 
Neck  Baptist  Church  then  became  and  remained  for 
nearly  a  century  by  common  consent  something  like  an 
established  church  in  the  old  country.  In  Rhode 
Island,  the  colony  most  like  that  on  the  Pedee  in  its 
general  features,  unrestricted  freedom  degenerated  into 
loquacity  and  verbal  dissensions;  but  on  the  Pedee 
where  there  was  a  strong  "instinct  of  nobility,"  able 
men  of  other  faiths  either  gave  them  up  or  compromised 
their  differences  and  cast  in  their  lot  with  their  Welsh 
brethren.  In  the  day  of  its  widest  influence,  it  had  no 
connection  with  the  magistrate,  yet  its  pastor  was 
called  upon  to  preach  before  the  Planters'  Club,  the  ses- 
sion sermon  before  the  opening  of  the  court,  and  on 
other  patriotic  occasions.  The  church  shared  to  some 
extent  in  the  strictness  of  discipline  common  to  the 
times,  but  in  no  other  way  was  its  influence  felt  to  be 
harsh  or  stern.  Only  once  in  the  history  of  the  Cheraw 
District  was  a  minister  beaten  for  preaching  the  gospel 
as  he  understood  it.  One  Rev.  Joseph  Cates  was 
severely  handled  before  the  Revolution  by  a  magistrate, 
but  the  violence  stirred  up  so  much  indignation  that  the 
officer  felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  make  bad  morals 
the  ground  of  the  castigation.  (Benedict.)  The  church 
was  a  light  shining  in  the  darkness  and  it  became  not 
only  an  uplifter  and  transformer  of  the  immediate 
vicinity,  but  also  a  mother  church  out  of  which  went 
before  the  dawn  of  the  new  century  such  organizations 
as  Cashaway,  Cape  Fear,  Lynch's  Creek,  Cheraw, 
Beauty  Spot,  and  others. 

The  time  came  at  last  when  moral  suasion  and  public 
opinion  were  not  sufficient  to  restrain  the  evil  men  who 

32 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

were  crowding  in  upon  the  unprotected  law-abiding 
citizens.  The  good  people  reported  their  grievances 
to  the  government  and  petitioned  for  relief;  but  when 
entreaties  were  unavailing,  the  best  people  in  the 
county  came  together,  considered  the  situation  and 
formed  companies  called  Regulators  who  made  it  warm 
for  the  emboldened  horse  thieves,  negro  stealers,  and 
other  evildoers.  The  activity  of  the  Regulators  awoke 
the  slumbering  authorities  in  Charles  Town  to  the  fact 
that  they  were  ignorant  of  the  real  situation  on  the 
Pedee.  The  machinery  of  government  as  a  result  of 
official  investigation  was  extended  over  the  men  who 
had  been  forced  to  protect  themselves.  It  was  not  a 
government  of  the  mob  on  the  Pedee;  that  arises  like 
miasma,  when  the  laws  are  lax  and  law-breakers  are 
unpunished.  It  was  an  organization  to  supply  the 
place  of  no  laws  and  it  fell  to  pieces  as  soon  as  the  people 
saw  constituted  authority  over  them.  They  acted  in 
obedience  to  the  law  of  self-preservation,  in  falling 
back  as  a  last  resort  on  the  sovereignty  of  the  people. 
A  coalition  of  law-abiding  citizens  against  any  class  of 
irresponsible  evildoers  who  respect  nothing  but  superior 
force,  is  always  in  order. 

A  court  house  and  jail  was  built  at  the  Bluff,  about 
1768,  and  a  judge  and  jury  sat  in  their  midst  dispensing 
justice.  It  was  a  new  era  to  the  colony,  when  the 
resumption  of  a  constitutional  government  closed  the 
time  of  insecurity  for  life  and  property.  The  troubles 
with  the  mother  country  were  now  beginning.  The 
Stamp  act  and  the  declaration  of  the  mother  country 
that  it  had  a  right  to  tax  the  colonies  were  like  an 
angry  cloud  rising  above  the  horizon.  In  the  fall 
court  of  1774,  Judge  William  Henry  Drayton's  ad- 

33 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

dress*  to  the  juries  and  their  responses,  place  Society  Hill 
in  the  very  front  rank  of  the  revolutionary  patriots.  The 
charge  of  the  judge  attracted  the  attention  of  the  people 
in  this  province  and  in  England.  A  part  of  it  was  couched 
in  these  ringing  words:  "English  people  cannot  be  taxed, 
nay  they  cannot  be  bound  by  any  laws,  unless  by  their 
consent,  expressed  by  themselves,  or  their  representa- 
tives of  their  own  election.  The  Colony  was  settled  by 
English  subjects;  by  a  people  from  England  herself;  a 
people  who  brought  over  with  them,  who  planted  in  the 
colony,  and  who  transmitted  to  posterity  the  invaluable 
right  of  Englishmen — rights  which  no  time,  no  contract, 
no  climate,  can  diminish.  Thus  possessed  of  such 
rights — by  all  the  ties  which  mankind  hold  most  dear 
and  sacred;  your  reverence  to  your  ancestors;  your 
love  to  your  own  interest;  your  tenderness  to  your 
posterity;  by  the  lawful  obligation  of  your  oath,  I 
charge  you  to  do  your  duty;  to  maintain  the  laws,  the 
rights,  the  constitution  of  your  country,  even  at  the 
hazard  of  your  lives  and  fortune." 

The  petit  jury  returned  "our  warmest  acknowledge- 
ments for  so  constitutional  a  charge  at  this  alarming 
crisis,  when  our  liberties  are  attacked  and  our  properties 
invaded  by  the  claim  and  attempt  of  the  British  parlia- 

*In  his  "Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate  Government,"  Jefferson  Davis  refers  to 
this  address  as  an  "exhibition  of  judicial  purity  and  independence"  like  to  that  exhib- 
ited by  Judge  Aldrich  in  1867,  when  he  being  ordered  to  revoke  a  sentence,  replied 
to  General  Sickles:  "I  do  not  impose  the  penalty  it  is  the  law,  and  I  have  no  discre- 
tion." When  General  Canby's  orders  did  not  conform  to  the  laws  of  the  state,  Judge 
Aldrich  called  the  attention  of  the  grand  jury  to  the  conflict.  He  opened  the  court, 
read  the  order  suspendng  him  from  office,  stated  the  circumstances  and,  laying  aside 
his  gown,  directed  the  sheriff  "to  let  the  court  stand  adjourned  while  justice  is 
stifled."  (Vol.  II,  p.  744.)  In  the  same  volume  is  a  very  interesting  account  of  how 
the  Federal  soldiers  treated  Rev.  Dr.  Bachman,  in  1865,  not  far  distant  from  the  very 
spot  where  Judge  W.  H.  Drayton  delivered  his  famous  charge  and  not  a  hundred 
years  later. 

34 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

ment  to  tax  us,  and  by  their  edicts  to  bind  us  in  all 
cases  they  deem  proper;  a  claim  to  which  we  will  never 
submit,  and  an  attempt  which  we  are  determined  to 
oppose  at  the  hazard  of  our  lives  and  property." 
The  Grand  Jury  was  even  more  outspoken : 
"We  present  as  a  grievance  of  the  first  magnitude, 
the  right  claimed  by  the  British  parliament  to  tax  us, 
and  by  their  acts  bind  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever.  When 
we  reflect  on  our  other  grievances,  they  all  appear  tri- 
fling in  comparison  with  this;  for  if  we  may  be  taxed, 
imprisoned,  deprived  of  life  by  the  force  of  edicts  to 
which  neither  we  nor  our  constitutional  representatives 
have  ever  assented,  no  slavery  can  be  more  abject  than 
ours.  .  .  .  This  right  of  being  exempted  from  all 
laws  but  those  enacted  with  the  consent  of  our  repre- 
sentatives of  our  own  election,  we  deem  so  essential  to 
our  freedom,  that  we  are  determined  to  defend  it  at  the 
hazard  of  our  lives  and  fortunes." 

The  story  of  the  Revolution  is  told  in  histories,  but 
the  course  of  events  as  they  happened  on  the  Pedee  is 
narrated  more  fully  in  the  history  of  the  old  Cheraws. 
The  men  of  Craven  County,  and  especially  in  the  cen- 
tral part,  stood  as  if  they  were  one  man  against  the 
invaders  and  their  deadly  associates,  the  tories.  They 
hazarded  their  lives  and'property  in  order  to  be  free; 
and  an  over-ruling  Providence  smiled  upon  their  efforts. 
The  Welsh  Neck  Church  suffered  along  with  the  com- 
munity. Her  leading  member,  General  Mcintosh, 
had  been  one  of  the  captains  of  the  Regulators,  had 
been  the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  which  returned  the 
attitude  of  the  British  Government  as  their  greatest 
grievance,  rose  to  the  rank  of  brigadier  general,  and  after 
a  successful  campaign  in  the  swamps  of  the  seacoast 

35 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

went  home  to  give  up  his  life  in  behalf  of  his  country, 
before  Cornwallis'  invasion.  The  patriotism  of  the 
church  is  shown  not  only  by  the  officers,  General  Mcin- 
tosh and  Colonel  Hicks,  it  presented  to  the  service,  but 
by  its  losses  in  the  rank  and  file  including  Colonel  Abel 
Kolb,  the  victim  of  the  tories.  It  is  mentioned  in  the 
records  of  the  church,  that  of  the  220  white  members 
only  48  were  left  in  1793,  showing  the  sad  havoc  of 
death  and  the  unhappy  results  of  a  protracted  war. 
(Gregg.) 

One  of  the  first  public  social  organizations  was  the 
Planters'  Club.  It  began  early  enough  to  embrace  in 
its  membership  some  of  the  earliest  arrivals  in  the 
woods,  but  its  object  is  said  to  have  been  social  rather 
than  instructive  in  the  art  of  driving  the  plough.  It 
preceded  and  paved  the  way  for  another  organization 
which  proved  to  be  enduring  and  eminently  useful. 

In  1777  there  was  a  gathering  of  patriotic  citizens 
at  the  Welsh  Neck  Church  in  the  interest  of  popular 
education.  Thomas  Lide  was  made  chairman.  Abel 
Wilds,  Robert  Lide,  Daniel  Sparks,  Elhanan  Win- 
chester, William  DeWitt,  Evan  Pugh,  William  Henry 
Mills,  Benjamin  Rogers,  George  Hicks,  Thomas  El- 
lerbe,  Thomas  Evans,  Joshua  Edwards,  Abel  Kolb, 
Thomas  James  and  William  Pegues  were  present. 

Alexander  Mcintosh  was  elected  president,  George 
Hicks,  vice-president,  Thomas  Evans,  treasurer,  William 
Pegues,  secretary.  At  the  second  meeting  of  this  St. 
David's  Society  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Benjamin  William- 
son twenty  were  present  and  the  rules  of  the  Society 
were  read  and  a  subscription  paper  for  raising  a  sum  of 
money  for  the  use  of  the  Society  was  prepared,  the  gist 
of  which  is  found  in  the  statement  that  the  Society 

36 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

existed  for  the  purpose  of  "establishing  and  founding  a 
public  school  in  the  Parish  for  educating  youth  of  all 
Christian  denominations  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages,  writing,  mathematics,  arithmetic  and  other 
useful  branches  of  literature,  who  are  not  of  ability 
without  assistance  to  carry  on  so  useful  and  necessary 
establishment  into  effect." 

In  the  first  meeting  there  were,  besides  General  Mcin- 
tosh and  Colonel  Hicks,  two  colonels,  two  majors,  ten 
captains  and  two  ministers  present.  It  was  a  patriotic 
as  well  as  educational  gathering,  as  the  subscription 
paper  itself  bears  witness.  Several  of  the  officers  and  a 
good  proportion  of  the  members  were  also  members  of 
the  Welsh  Neck  Church  and  congregation;  yet  it  was 
a  district  affair,  with  notices  of  its  meetings  posted 
sometimes  in  five  places  within  its  precinct.  "It  was 
fortunate  for  the  healthy  progress  of  the  settlement  in 
the  Pedee  that  in  the  central  and  most  important  of  them 
all,  the  religious  element  so  largely  prevailed."     (Gregg.) 

The  platform  of  the  Society  was  equality  of  oppor- 
tunity and  cooperation  in  the  work  of  education.  They 
knew  that  there  could  be  no  equality  in  mental  equip- 
ment and  innate  qualities,  in  the  bestowment  of  which 
nature  and  not  man  was  supreme;  but  their  interest 
in  education  showed  convictions  that  every  child  should 
have  a  chance  to  develop  its  mind  and  that  a  people 
worthy  to  be  free  from  political  bondage  should  also 
free  itself  from  the  sway  of  ignorance,  more  to  be 
dreaded  than  the  domination  of  Great  Britain. 

One  hundred  and  sixty-eight  persons  subscribed 
8,898*  pounds  current  money  for  the  purpose  of  building 

*One  pound  of  English  currency  equalled  seven  of  the  Colony,  prior  to  the  Revolu- 
tion.   There  was  probably  further  depreciation  in  1777. 

37 


189070 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

a  house  and  opening  a  school.  Two  names  in  the  list 
attract  attention.  David  Williams  is  put  down  twice 
for  fifteen  pounds.  One,  it  is  conjectured,  was  put 
down  by  Mrs.  Anne  Williams,  for  David  Williams 
deceased,  and  the  other  for  the  child,  David  Rogerson 
Williams,  toward  whom  our  narrative  is  leading.  The 
fall  of  Charleston  and  the  invasion  of  the  state  nipped 
the  promising  undertaking  in  the  bud,  only  to  show 
renewed  life  in  April,  1783.  From  that  time,  it  con- 
tinued more  than  half  a  century  with  as  much  regularity 
as  a  paid  legislature  exhibits  in  caring  for  the  affairs 
of  the  state. 

The  St.  David's  Society  was  composed  of  all  classes, 
irrespective  of  ecclesiastical  divisions.  Each  member 
paid  annual  dues  and  had  a  voice  in  electing  officers 
for  the  ensuing  year.  During  the  seventeen  years  prior 
to  1800,  Society  Hill  as  it  was  called  earlier  than  1790 
was  stealing  a  march  on  less  wide  awake  communities 
by  keeping  the  academy  open  both  for  the  children  of 
the  neighborhood  and  as  a  boarding  school.  North  and 
South  Carolina,  including  Charleston,  sent  pupils  to  the 
Pedee,  to  enjoy  the  advantages  provided. 

Its  long  history  is  free  from  unsightly  divisions  of  its 
patrons  caused  too  frequently  by  local  jealousies  and 
indiscretions.  The  Society  served  as  a  nursery  for 
training  young  men  for  public  service.  Judge  Wilds, 
William  Falconer,  D.  R.  Williams,  John  D.  Wither- 
spoon,  J.  N.  Williams,  the  Mclvers,  Thomas  Smith 
and  Judge  Evans,  are  among  the  number  who  began 
their  careers  either  as  students  in  the  Academy  or  as 
members  of  the  Society.  In  the  effort  to  help  them- 
selves, they  had  the  great  happiness  which  came  from 
being  an  educational  lighthouse  at  home  and  for  ad- 

38 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

jacent  sections.  "How  much  in  the  end  other  neigh- 
boring communities  were  indebted  to  their  salutary 
influence,  it  would  be  difficult  to  estimate."     (Gregg.) 

Mr.  Craig,  Mr.  Gully,  Ezekiel  Hitchcock,  Samuel 
Wilds,  Eli  King  and  Thomas  Park  were  the  teachers  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  It  was  not  till  the  time  of  the 
last  mentioned,  that  the  fourteen  constitutional  rules 
of  the  Society  were  recorded  in  the  minutes.  The  first 
one  made  it  incumbent  on  all  members  to  meet  annually 
on  the  third  Monday  in  May  and  elect  by  ballot  a 
president,  two  wardens,  a  treasurer,  and  secretary  and 
a  standing  committee.  The  second,  seventh  and  eighth 
dealt  with  the  duties  of  the  treasurer  and  the  safeguards 
thrown  around  the  Society's  funds.  The  third  referred 
to  fines  for  men  elected  to  office  who  were  either  negli- 
gent or  refused  to  serve.  The  fourth  defined  the  duties 
of  the  standing  committee  which  included  the  wardens 
and  three  members.  The  fifth  rule  fixed  the  fines  of 
each  officer  for  non-attendance  at  $2,  of  members  at  $1. 
The  ninth  made  twenty  shillings  the  annual  dues  of 
each  member  toward  paying  the  expenses  of  the  Society 
and  school.  The  remainder  enumerated  the  causes  for 
the  exclusion  of  a  member  or  gave  instructions  how  to 
enter  and  how  to  withdraw  from  its  connection. 

The  contemporary  school  with  which  the  St.  David's 
Academy  can  be  compared,  was  the  Waddell  Academy 
in  Western  Abbeville.  It  became  a  more  celebrated 
school  because  of  its  learned  principal  and  the  great 
men  who  were  instructed  in  it.  The  St.  David's  Acad- 
emy, organized  and  supported  by  the  St.  David's  So- 
ciety, situated  in  the  St.  David's  Parish,  grew  out  of  a 
community  interest  in  education,  and  it  is  a  monument 
to  the  wisdom  and  benevolence  of  the  early  inhabitants 

39 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

of  the  upper  Pedee.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Welsh 
Neck  Church  was  never  filled  by  a  star  preacher,  nor  the 
St.  David's  Academy  manned  by  a  brilliant  magnetic 
teacher;  and  yet  the  steady,  intelligent,  persevering 
tenacity  of  a  line  of  good  preachers  and  good  teach- 
ers, made  the  community  like  a  city  set  on  a  hill.  It 
stands  as  a  solitary  community  in  South  Carolina  in 
which  there  was  a  school  with  a  foundation  antedating 
the  close  of  the  Revolution,  conducted  by  representa- 
tives of  the  Society  which  was  open  to  all  citizens,  pro- 
vided with  houses  and  teachers  without  state  aid.  If 
all  other  knowledge  about  the  upper  Pedee  had  perished, 
the  St.  David's  Academy,  like  the  exhumed  ruins  of  a 
forgotten  city,  would  be  an  unassailable  evidence  that 
a  high  type  of  civilization  once  flourished  in  that  region. 

The  emigrant  from  the  old  world  brought  his  char- 
acter with  him;  but  England  predetermined  how  the 
character  of  the  South  Carolinian  should  be  moulded. 
He  should  be  devoted  to  agriculture,  where  the  land 
was  cheap  and  abundant  and  where  a  rich  soil,  genial 
climate,  and  government  bounties,  made  it  the  most 
profitable  and  independent  of  callings.  He  should  be 
a  money  borrower,  because  it  paid  to  be  in  debt.  Slaves 
bought  on  time  at  10  per  cent,  interest  paid  for  them- 
selves in  three  or  four  years.  He  should  be  absorbed 
in  his  farm  and  leave  politics  to  the  few  who  were  skilled 
in  the  art  of  governing.  He  should  be  devoted  to  the 
production  of  raw  materials  and  leave  manufacturing 
and  sea-faring  to  the  mother  country,  which  sold  arti- 
cles cheaper  at  Charles  Town  than  at  home.  He  should 
abound  in  rustic  plenty  and  enjoy  the  utmost  freedom 
at  his  home  and  in  his  own  possessions. 

The  inhabitants  on  the  Pedee  also  felt  this  moulding 

40 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

force  of  the  powerful  transatlantic  hands,  in  their  eco- 
nomic relations  and  in  the  large  latitude  left  for  individ- 
ual effort  and  personal  freedom;  but  the  sense  of 
brotherhood  and  mutual  helpfulness,  extending  through 
all  the  bounds  of  the  homogeneous  colony,  called  clan- 
nishness  by  Bishop  Gregg,  differentiated  them  from 
their  neighbors.  Like  the  solid  South,  little  Wales  had 
been  made  solid  by  external  pressure,  and  when  that 
pressure  was  no  longer  exerted  or  feared  on  the  Pedee, 
their  cohesiveness  had  become  a  second  nature,  a  posi- 
tive asset  to  be  used  for  their  common  benefit.  They 
stood  together  in  self-defense  before  the  laws  were  estab- 
lished and  enforced,  they  were  nearly  unanimous  in 
their  struggles  and  sufferings  in  behalf  of  political  lib- 
erty, and  they  worked  together  in  the  St.  David's  So- 
ciety that  the  young  people  might  have  educational 
advantages.  The  original  settlers  had  an  eye  to  the 
quality  rather  than  to  the  number  of  incomers  and  thus, 
with  better  statesmanship  than  Uncle  Sam  exhibits 
in  his  open-door  policy,  one  ounce  of  preventive,  by 
shutting  the  door  to  undesirable  neighbors  and  their 
descendants,  made  the  intelligent  and  patriotic  a  major- 
ity large  enough  to  use  the  whole  social  machinery  in 
the  interest  of  good  government,  good  morals  and  of 
mental  improvement.  At  Society  Hill  and  in  the  sec- 
tion of  which  it  was  the  centre,  this  type  of  civilization 
was  dominant,  and  it  was  no  little  good  fortune  in  that 
early  period  to  become  a  sharer  from  childhood  in  the 
blessings  of  a  progressive  and  elevating  environment. 


41 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    ANCESTRY,    EDUCATION    AND    MARRIAGE    OF    DAVID 
ROGERSON   WILLIAMS 

AMONG  the  numerous  descendants  of  the  Welsh 
ZA  and  their  neighbors  to  whom  lands  were  as- 
-1  V  signed,  no  one  appreciated  more  highly  the 
advantages  of  his  early  surroundings  or  was  more 
worthy  of  remembrance  than  David  Rogerson  Williams, 
the  son  of  David  Williams  and  the  grandson  of  Rev. 
Robert  Williams,  the  founder  of  the  family  on  the  Pe- 
dee.  All  the  writers  on  the  subject  agree  that  Robert 
Williams  was  born  in  Northampton,  North  Carolina, 
in  1717,  but  they  do  not  agree  as  to  his  nationality,  the 
time  of  arrival  on  the  Pedee  or  his  early  religious  asso- 
ciations. In  "The  Williams  Family"  by  Professor 
Ames  he  is  put  down  as  of  English  extraction  and  of 
Church  of  England  proclivities;  by  others  including 
Judge  O'Neall  he  is  made  of  Welsh  extraction.  The 
date  of  his  coming  to  the  Pedee  is  placed  by  Bishop 
Gregg  about  1738,  by  Professor  Ames  about  1746.  In 
this  last-named  year  he  bought  two  tracts  of  land,  each 
containing  one  hundred  acres,  one  of  them  August 
20th,  from  John  Evans,  an  original  member  of  the  Welsh 
colony.  It  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Pedee, 
south  by  lands  of  Joseph  Cunningham,  and  on  the  day 
preceding  he  secured  from  John  Newberry  the  other 

42 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

tract,  bounded  by  the  Pedee  and  vacant  land.  In 
June,  1747,  he  purchased  two  hundred  acres  from  Cor- 
nelius Reine,  bounded  by  lands  of  Nathaniel  Evans, 
Giles  Bowers,  and  John  Evans.  He  took  up  the  same 
year  three  hundred  acres  of  vacant  land,  bounded  by 
the  Pedee,  John  Evans,  Samuel  Wiggins,  vacant  land, 
Isaac  Stukman  and  Henry  Roach.  Also  one  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  from  Samuel  Wiggins,  bounded  by  lands 
of  Roach,  Cunningham,  John  Evans  and  James  Baber. 
Another  one  hundred  acres  were  added  within  the  first 
two  years;  it  was  bounded  by  the  Pedee,  John  Evans, 
Samuel  Wiggins,  James  Reaves  and  Samuel  Boykin. 
The  latter  was  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Robert  Williams,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Anne  Boykin.  Bishop  Gregg,  in  his 
history  of  the  Old  Cheraws,  appears  to  have  missed 
the  records  for  1746  and  to  have  used  for  1747  docu- 
ments other  than  those  in  the  archives.  He  spells  the 
name  "Boyakin."  In  two  years  Mr.  Williams  became 
the  owner  of  950  acres  and  his  landed  possessions  had 
reached  2,300  acres  when  the  present  investigation 
halted. 

As  early  as  1746,  he  was  mentioned  by  Morgan  Ed- 
wards as  a  member  of  the  Welsh  Neck  Church  and  as 
speaking  with  Rev.  Mr.  Brown  in  opposition  to  a  cus- 
tom— laying  on  of  hands — peculiar  to  the  Welsh  Neck 
and  its  mother  church  in  Pennsylvania.  He  became 
pastor  of  the  Welsh  Neck  in  1752  and  besides  his  work 
as  pastor  he  had  great  success  in  preaching  to  some 
churches  in  North  Carolina  (J.  C.  Furman).  He  con- 
tinued in  his  pastorate  till  1759  when  a  letter  of  dis- 
mission was  called  for.  Some  disagreement  having 
arisen  between  the  retiring  pastor  and  the  church,  the 
latter  finally  cancelled  the  letter  of  dismission  and  ex- 

43 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

eluded  him  and  his  wife,  Mrs.  Anne  Williams,  from  its 
membership.  Mr.  Williams  laid  the  matter  before  the 
Charleston  Association  in  1762  and  "the  church 
received  a  letter  of  advice  relative  to  this  affair  and  ad- 
vised that  they  should  receive  a  letter  of  acknowledg- 
ment made  and  signed  before  the  Association  and 
thereupon  he  should  be  restored."  The  church  chose 
to  add  another  condition  to  what  the  acknowledgment 
contained  and  increased  the  alienation.  In  reference 
to  their  subsequent  reconciliation,  due  probably  to  the 
mediation  of  the  Association,  the  records  are  silent. 
Owing  to  the  loss  of  the  early  minutes,  from  1752  to 
1762,  it  cannot  be  decided  what  part  he  took  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Association.  Too  little  is  known  of 
his  useful  and  unpretentious  life.  In  his  time  was  "the 
silent  inevitable  pressure  of  the  race  into  the  wilder- 
ness" when  men  felled  the  forests,  subdued  the  wilder- 
ness and  forgot  to  hand  down  the  names  and  deeds  of 
themselves  and  their  forefathers.  Mr.  Williams  was  a 
pioneer  Baptist  preacher  who  did  not  depend  on  the 
churches  for  a  support.  He  was  a  man  of  some  means 
and  wisely  cared  for  and  augmented  his  possessions. 
He  survived  his  wife,  Anne  Boykin,  and  left  a  good 
property  for  his  children.  He  died  in  1767  or  1768. 
A  part  of  the  last  tribute  to  his  worth,  taken  from  his 
funeral  sermon,  has  been  handed  down  by  Benedict 
and  others:  "He  was  kind  to  the  poor  and  especially 
to  the  afflicted;  a  man  of  excellent  natural  parts  and 
a  minister  who  preached  the  gospel  to  the  edification 
and  comfort  of  souls,  as  many  have  testified  to  me,  and 
to  crown  it  all,  a  sincere  Christian."  His  will  was 
probated  in  Charleston  in  July,  1768. 

David  Williams,  one  of  his  sons,  was  born  in  Febru- 

44 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

ary,  1739,  and  became  an  inmate  of  Rev.  Oliver  Hart's 
home  in  Charles  Town  in  January,  1756,  and  received 
there  a  classical  education.  He  married  Anne  Rogerson 
and  apparently  made  Charleston  his  home  and  head- 
quarters ;  but  the  larger  part  of  his  visible  property  was  on 
the  Pedee,  where  he  spent  his  last  days.  He,  too,  in- 
vested largely  in  land.  In  1772  he  sold  seventeen  tracts 
known  as  the  Brotherhood  Plantation,  containing 
3,025  acres,  to  Rev.  Edmund  Botsford  for  35,050 
pounds;  but  two  or  three  months'  possession  satisfied 
the  minister,  who  deeded  it  back  to  its  owner.  In  1767 
he  was  a  member  of  the  old  First  Church  of  Charleston 
and  was  selected  as  a  man  qualified  to  be  classical 
teacher  of  Edmund  Botsford,  a  candidate  for  the  min- 
istry who  remembered  affectionately  his  "dear  good 
friend  Williams"  fifty  years  afterward.  In  1771  he  was 
trustee  of  the  church  and  placed  in  good  company  by  the 
Association  on  a  committee  with  Revs.  Pelot,  Hart  and 
Morgan  Edwards,  to  revise  the  system  of  discipline  for 
the  use  of  the  churches;  and  was  also  nominated  with 
his  pastor  to  receive  contributions  for  Rhode  Island 
College.  In  February,  1775,  he  attended  the  Charles- 
ton Association  and  was  made  clerk  of  that  body.  In 
June  he  was  added  by  the  Provincial  Assembly  to  the 
Committee  of  Observation  for  the  St.  David's  Parish. 
But  the  responsible  duties  of  his  office  did  not  long  claim 
his  patriotic  attention.  (Gregg.)  Mindful  of  the  ap- 
proaching close  of  his  life,  in  December  he  made  a  dis- 
position of  his  property  by  his  last  will  and  testament. 
He  appointed  his  "trusty  friend"  Thomas  Williamson, 
and  George  Hicks  of  St.  David's  Parish,  Thomas 
Screven  of  St.  Thomas  Parish,  and  George  Savage  of 
Charles  Town  executors.     He  named  three  tracts  con- 

45 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

taining  1,300  acres  to  be  sold  for  the  payment  of  his 
debts  with  all  the  cattle  and  horses  not  needed  for 
plantation  use.  To  his  wife  he  gave  besides  household 
and  kitchen  furniture  and  animals  needed  on  the  farm, 
twelve  negroes  in  lieu  of  her  dowry.  He  was  also  mind- 
ful of  his  youngest  sister  Ann  who  had  been  living  with 
him,  and  quite  liberal  to  his  married  sister  Mrs.  McCall 
and  her  large  family.  If  the  child  not  yet  born  be  a 
boy,*  he  ordered  all  the  land  east  of  the  river  and 
fifteen  negroes  to  be  assigned  to  his  daughter.  To  the 
boy  the  lands  on  the  southwest  side  with  the  rest  and 
residue  of  the  estate  should  fall;  but  in  the  event  the 
child  should  be  a  girl,  the  greater  part  of  the  estate  was 
to  be  divided  between  the  two  children.  On  the  first 
of  January,  1776,  he  died,  and  the  dwellers  on  the  Pedee 
and  his  friends  in  Charleston  regretted  his  untimely 
departure.  He  was  a  useful  and  amiable  man.  (Bene- 
dict.) Cheraw  lost  a  worthy  and  useful  citizen  in  the 
death  of  David  Williams.  Cut  off  prematurely  in  his 
thirty-sixth  year,  his  country  could  illy  afford  to  be 
deprived  of  his  services.  His  untimely  end  was  much 
lamented.  (Gregg.)  His  estate  amounted  to  4,300 
acres,  seventy  slaves  and  a  large  number  of  cattle  in 
1793.     (Ames.) 

About  two  months  after  his  death,  his  son,  David 
Rogerson  Williams,  was  born;  and  in  quick  succession 
followed  the  exciting  political  events,  Bunker  HiH, 
Fort  Moultrie  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
In  these  larger  events  were  lost  or  unobserved  the 
distressing  experiences  of  the  widows  and  orphans, 
sixteen  hundred  of  whom  were  left  in  Ninety-six  pre- 
cinct by  the  war  and  the  strife  with  the  tories.     David 

•The  right  of  primogeniture  in  South  Carolina  was  not  abolished  until  1791. 

46 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Rogerson  was  six  years  old  when  peace  returned;  no 
reminiscence  of  the  times  is  found  in  his  vigorous 
speeches  in  later  years  against  the  mother  country. 
Earlier  than  his  eleventh  year,  it  is  inferred  from 
inconclusive  evidence,  his  home  was  transferred  to 
Charleston;  but  prior  to  that  time,  his  pleasure  in  the 
chase  which  never  abated  was  doubtless  kindled,  and  a 
brief  attendance  at  St.  David's  must  have  been  a  mat- 
ter of  course.  The  first  positive  trace  of  him  is  found  in 
1791,  at  Wrentham,  Massachusetts,  where  he  was 
preparing  for  entrance  into  Rhode  Island  College. 
This  was  the  first  Baptist  College  in  America  and  its 
foundation  was  due  to  a  Welshman,  Morgan  Edwards, 
in  1764.  Its  founders  were  active  in  their  efforts  to 
secure  the  good  will  of  the  denomination  in  Europe  and 
America.  The  connection  by  vessel  between  Provi- 
dence and  Charleston  was  direct  and  the  agents  of  the 
college  were  cordially  received  by  the  pastors  and 
churches  in  South  Carolina.  The  father  of  David 
Rogerson  was  one  of  the  agents  of  the  college,  in  Charles 
Town  and  on  the  Pedee;  and  his  efforts  with  those  of 
Revs.  Pelot  and  Hart  secured  some  cash  and  turned  the 
minds  of  younger  men  in  that  direction.  Rev.  Richard 
Furman,  who  became  pastor  at  Charleston  in  1787,  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  young  Edwards  of  Society  Hill, 
two  Screvens  of  Charleston,  J.  B.  Cook,  J.  M.  Roberts, 
David  R.  Williams  and  his  own  son,  Wood,  reaping  the 
advantages  of  the  school.  John  D.  Witherspoon  and 
James  Ervin  of  the  Pedee  were  also  students.  The  col- 
lege paid  back  to  the  state  good  interest  by  furnishing 
Eh*  King,  Thomas  Park,  John  Waldo,  Abram  Blanding, 
John  Holroyd  and  Jonathan  Maxcy  to  be  teachers  in  a 
time  when  they  were  greatly  needed.     It  was  owing  to 

47 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

this  connection  with  Rhode  Island  College  that  Richard 
Furman  could  commend  President  Maxcy  to  the  trus- 
tees to  be  the  first  president  of  the  state  college.  Both 
Furman  and  Maxcy  were  Federalists,  and,  Thomas 
Jefferson  now  being  President  at  Washington,  Chancel- 
lor James  espoused  the  candidacy  of  Doctor  McCalla 
of  the  low  country.  Colonel  Wade  Hampton,  a  leading 
trustee,  made  a  remark  which  proved  effective  against 
the  democratic  candidacy:  "I  know  no  necessary  con- 
nection between  politics  and  literature/* 

That  Doctor  Furman  was  in  a  measure  behind 
David's  exile  at  Wrentham,  as  his  mother's  pastor  and 
as  one  interested  in  the  bunch  of  boys  that  went  with 
him,  is  clear  from  a  letter  of  Charles  Screven  from 
Wrentham,  just  after  the  voyage  hither,  September, 
1791:  "Cousin  Tommie  gives  his  love  to  you;  and  Da- 
vid his  most  respectful  compliments  and  hopes  that  you 
will  excuse  him  for  not  writing  to  you  at  this  opportun- 
ity." David  entered  the  college  in  1792.  The  records 
show  that  he  was  a  voracious  reader,  exercising  taste 
and  judgment  in  the  choice  of  his  books.  That  the 
books  read  by  him  can  be  named  in  their  order  one 
hundred  and  twenty  years  later  is  owing  to  the  assist- 
ance of  Prof.  Walter  C.  Bronson  of  Brown  University: 
"1793,  November  16,  Robertson's  History  of  Charles 
V;  Nov.  23,  Female  Ruin,  vol.  1,  he  kept  this  out  only 
two  days;  Nov.  25,  Gibbon's  Roman  Empire,  vol.  2; 
Dec.  5,  Shakespeare  V.  2;  Dec.  12,  do,  vol.  3;  Dec.  21, 
do,  vol.  5;  1794,  Jan.  4,  do,  vol.  6  (for  Thomas  Edwards), 
vol.  7,  10  (for  himself  also  Pope's  Odyssey,  vol.  1,  2; 
Robinson's  America,  vol.  3,  Vertol's  Revol.  Sweden, 
Marshall's  Travels,  vol.  1  (evidently  stocking  up  for  the 
vacation,  then  a  long  one.  W.  C.  B.) ;  Feb.  8,  do,  vol.  2, 

48 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

DeWitt's  Maxims;  Feb.  18,  Anderson's  History  of 
France,  vol.  2;  Mar.  2,  Robertson's  Scotland,  vol.  1; 
Mar.  8,  do,  vol.  2;  Mar.  15,  Moore's  Travels  in  France, 
vol.  1;  Mar.  22,  do,  vol.  2;  March  29,  Robertson's 
Inequality;  April  1,  Moore's  Travels  in  Italy,  vol.  1; 
April,  do,  vol.  2;  April  12,  Addison's  Works,  vol.  1; 
April  19,  do,  vol.  2;  April  26,  do,  vol.  3;  May  2,  do,  vol. 
4;  May  8,  Vaillants  Travels,  vol.  2;  Rollin's  Roman 
Hist.  vol.  1,  2;  June  7,  Revolution  in  Portugal,  Vertol's 
Rev.  of  Rome,  vol.  2;  June  21,  Queen  Anne,  vol.  1; 
July  3,  Thompson's  Works,  vol.  2,  3,  July  9,  Young's 
Works,  vol.  3, 4 ;  July  16,  do,  vol.  5, 6 ;  July  25,  Congreve's 
Otway;  Oct.  31,  Rollin's  Roman  Hist.  vol.  5;  Nov.  8,  do, 
vol.  6;  Nov.  15,  Rollin's  Belles  Lettres,  vol.  1, 2;  Dec.  13, 
Krames'  Sketches,  vol.  1;  Dec.  20,  do,  v.  4;  Dec.  27, 
do,  v.  3,  Spectator  v.  1,  2."  Wise  men  lay  up  knowl- 
edge. (0.  T.) 

The  Spectator  was  the  last  volume  drawn,  for  in 
January,  1795,  in  his  junior  year,  "the  remittances 
from  his  plantation  in  South  Carolina  failed  him  and  he 
went  south  to  investigate  the  cause."  (Ames.)  His 
return  South  was  begun  on  the  11th  of  January,  as  he 
acted  as  mail  carrier  for  Screven  and  Cook,  both  of 
whom  mentioned  David's  voyage  as  presenting  a  favor- 
able opportunity  for  writing  to  their  benefactor,  Rich- 
ard Furman.  David  was  in  his  nineteenth  year  when 
he  reached  his  plantation  and  "was  told  that  his  prop- 
erty was  in  debt  and  valueless  and  should  be  sold."  This 
he  declined,  saying,  "I  will  not  buy  another  hat  until 
my  inheritance  is  redeemed."  (Ames.)  He  did  not 
return  to  college  in  order  to  graduate,  but  the  authorities 
recognized  the  good  work  done  by  the  young  man  and 
conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  A.  M.  in  1801.     He  was 

49 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

in  Providence  on  the  14th  of  August,  1796,  to  bring 
home  his  bride,  Miss  Sarah  Power,  a  young  lady  whose 
favor  he  had  found  time  to  cultivate  even  while  devour- 
ing so  many  volumes  of  the  library.  The  new  hat,  of 
course,  had  to  come,  for  such  an  occasion,  before  he  had 
time  to  sell  his  second  crop,  but  he  saw  through  the 
financial  cloud  before  he  embarked  on  the  matrimonial 
sea.     He  did  not  return  at  once  to  Society  Hill. 

In  October  following  Pastor  Botsford  informed  his 
friend  Furman  that  some  of  Mr.  Williams'  negroes  were 
inquiring  the  way  to  Zion.  Two  of  them  had  been 
examined  and  accepted  but  not  baptized,  "as  Mr.  Wil- 
liams is  not  returned."  But  he  did  return  to  his  farm 
in  his  own  time;  for  Mr.  Botsford  having  removed  to 
Georgetown,  stated  in  his  correspondence,  in  August, 
1797,  that  "Mr.  David  Williams  is  here  waiting  for  a 
passage  to  New  England;  his  lady  is  in  a  very  bad  way; 
though  I  suppose  better  than  she  has  been.  Soon  after 
her  delivery,  she  was  in  a  state  of  perfect  distraction; 
her  disorder  now  seems  rather  a  settled  melancholy;  of 
all  the  disorders  to  which  human  nature  is  incident,  the 
loss  of  reason  appears  to  me  the  most  awful."  The 
disorder,  however,  was  only  temporary.  The  first 
born  was  a  son  and  was  well  and  favorably  known  in 
after  years  as  John  Nicholas  Williams,  his  birth  being 
at  Society  Hill,  July  2,  1797.  From  this  time  till  1801 
some  uncertainty  hangs  over  the  place  or  places  where 
Mr.  Williams  and  his  family  were  abiding  and  what  he 
was  doing.  Using  the  always  reliable  minutes  of  the 
St.  David's  Society,  one  is  justified  in  locating  him  at 
his  farm  January,  1798,  till  the  fall  of  1799,  or  at  least  in 
Society  Hill  at  the  time  of  the  stated  and  called  meet- 
ings of  that  body  and  he  was  honored  by  the  legislature 

50 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

by  an  appointment  to  act  as  a  Commissioner  for  Darling- 
ton District  to  decide  a  line  in  dispute  on  the  Chester- 
field side.  (Gregg.)  He  was  probably  at  Providence 
in  December,  1799,  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  his  second 
and  last  child,  George  Frederick,  who  died  in  boyhood. 
On  the  2d  of  January,  1810,  Rev.  Mr.  Botsford  jotted 
down  this  item:  "This  day  I  heard  of  the  death  of  Col. 
David  Williams'  youngest  son,  who  died  the  day  after 
his  return  from  bringing  home  my  daughter  Caty"  to 
Georgetown. 

Sources  :  In  Chapters  IV  and  V,  the  Archives  of  the 
State,  Gregg's  History  of  the  Old  Cheraws,  the  Minutes 
of  the  St.  David's  Society,  the  Minutes  of  the  Welsh 
Neck  Church,  the  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Welsh  Neck 
Church,  1888,  the  Williams  Family,  Oliver  Hart's  Diary, 
Minutes  of  the  Charleston  Association,  the  Furman 
Collection,  O'Neall's  Bench  and  Bar.  Prof.  Walter  C. 
Bronson's  contribution  to  this  chapter  is  nearly  all  that 
is  known  about  David's  life  at  college,  except  that  his 
roommate  was  Abram  Blanding. 


51 


CHAPTER  VI 

HIS    CAREER   AS   AN   EDITOR 

IN  1785  John  E.  Mclver,  the  brother  of  the  better 
known  Evander  Mclver,  entered  into  partnership 
in  the  firm  of  Childs,  Mclver  &  Co.,  of  Charleston. 
In  1794  his  paper  was  called  the  City  Gazette  and  Daily 
Advertiser  and  was  issued  by  Markland  and  Mclver. 
At  the  end  of  the  year  they  sold  the  paper  to  Frenau  and 
Payne,  who  continued  it  the  remainder  of  the  century. 

The  presidential  election  which  seated  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson in  the  presidency  had  just  closed  and  left  behind 
some  sincere  doubts  in  the  minds  of  the  Federalists 
whether  the  new  government  could  avoid  a  general 
collapse.  The  French  Revolution  made  many  fear  that 
a  government  by  a  democracy  would  end  in  the  same 
way.  One  Federalist  declared  that  the  devil  knew  not 
what  he  did  when  he  made  man  political,  he  crossed 
himself  by  it.  Similar  periods  of  uneasiness  have  been 
passed  through  in  this  state  and  others  are  yet  to  come, 
but  there  is  always  hope  in  the  ultimate  result,  while 
the  poor  and  the  rich  belong  to  one  stock  and  most  of 
them  are  native  born.  Evil  men  and  evil  counsels  may 
prevail  for  a  while,  but  reason  and  open  discussion  will 
guide  the  people  to  the  better.  Frenau  and  Payne  had 
advocated  the  democratic  side  and  felt  the  pecuniary 
loss  entailed  by  their  opposition  to  the  strong  Federalist 

52 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

sentiment  and  were  not  unwilling  to  hand  over  their 
paper  and  good  will  to  their  fellow  democrats,  Mclver 
and  Williams.  Early  in  1801  Mr.  Williams  emerged 
from  the  obscurity  of  the  two  previous  years  and  be- 
came, with  Mr.  Mclver,  the  joint  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  City  Gazette  and  the  Weekly  Carolina  Gazette. 
This  happy  editorial  arrangement  brought  together 
again  the  mother,  daughter  and  son  and  promised 
congenial  and  profitable  employment;  but  it  was  des- 
tined to  be  of  short  duration.  The  senior  partner  and 
brother-in-law  endured  a  protracted  illness  and  died  in 
May,  aged  thirty-seven  years. 

"It  is  a  tribute,"  said  the  Gazette,  "due  to  the  mem- 
ory of  this  gentleman  to  say  that  to  a  cultivated  under- 
standing he  added  a  most  benevolent  disposition;  that 
the  uprightness  of  his  heart  and  the  assiduities  of  his 
manners  were  such  as  evinced  respect  of  all  who  enjoyed 
the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance.  As  a  member  of 
society,  his  life,  unfortunately  too  soon  closed,  has  been 
useful  and  valuable;  as  a  husband  and  brother,  his  con- 
duct was  most  affectionate  and  exemplary;  no  one  was  es- 
teemed more  by  his  friends  while  living,  nor  will  be  more 
regretted  and  lamented  when  dead.  He  bore  the  in- 
firmities of  a  long  and  painful  illness  with  firmness  and 
resignation,  and  died  in  the  hope  of  meeting  the  reward 
due  to  a  well-spent  life.  He  has  left  a  widow  with  five 
small  children,  the  eldest  yet  in  its  childhood,  to  experi- 
ence the  loss  of  that  protection  and  guardianship  which 
would  have  been  so  ably  awarded  to  them,  had  not  the 
afflicting  hand  of  Providence  intervened.  At  the  time 
of  his  death  Mr.  Mclver  was  a  member  in  our  state 
legislature  from  the  united  districts  of  Marlboro  and 
Chesterfield." 

53 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

It  is  well  known  that  the  weekly  paper  established 
and  maintained  by  Mr.  Mclver  exerted  an  important 
influence  in  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life.  Single 
copies  reached  the  backwoods  settlement  and  were 
read  and  thumbed  and  preserved  as  if  it  were  a  treasure. 
The  only  reference  to  his  relationship  to  the  churches  is 
the  statement  that  he  was  one  of  seven  to  frame  the 
constitutional  rules  and  by-laws  for  the  historic  first 
church.  During  the  remainder  of  the  year  Mr.  Wil- 
liams continued  sole  editor,  and  then  the  firm  of  Mclver 
and  Williams  was  dissolved;  but  in  another  sense  it 
continued  more  than  thirty  years — in  his  kindness  to  his 
widowed  sister,  Mrs.  Mary  Ann  Mclver,  and  her  chil- 
dren through  all  his  life.  She  died  in  1834,  and  of  her 
on  that  occasion  her  pastor  wrote:  "Yesterday  I  wit- 
nessed the  interment  of  our  aged  and  excellent  sister 
Mclver  gathered  in  like  a  shock  of  corn  in  his  season 
fully  ripe.  She  had  given  for  nearly  half  a  century  the 
best  proof  of  vital  godliness — of  her  being  a  branch  of 
the  true  vine.  For  seven  years  she  had  not  known 
what  it  was  to  fear  death." 

Mr.  Williams,  as  sole  editor  and  manager,  said  to  his 
constituents  in  July  that  "he  felt  no  small  degree  of 
satisfaction  in  issuing  the  Carolina  Gazette  in  a  style  of 
superior  elegance  and  perspicuity.  This  pleasing  sen- 
sation is  enhanced  by  the  confidence  that  it  will  be 
reciprocated  by  the  friends  and  patrons  of  the  estab- 
lishment. This  appearance,  it  is  hoped,  causes  a  silent 
conviction  that  notwithstanding  the  mournful  and 
heavy  loss  he  has  sustained  in  his  late  partner,  he  is 
determined  by  unremitting  ardor  and  the  best  assistance 
that  can  be  procured  to  continue  the  paper  the  vehicle 
of  general  information  and  improvement.    To  that 

54 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

public,  he  feels  no  hesitancy  in  pledging  his  most  in- 
dustrious exertions." 

At  the  beginning  of  1802  the  firm  of  Frenau  and 
Williams  was  formed,  a  strong  publishing  combination 
and  force  in  his  day.  Frenau' s  editorial  work  was  in  the 
period,  1785-1816.  He  was  an  excellent  writer,  a  mag- 
netic friend,  kind  hearted  and  popular;  though  there 
were  not  a  few  who  thought  that  he  made  a  tyrannical 
use  at  times  of  his  paper.  His  friend  Thomas  "loved 
him  next  to  Heaven."  He  died  in  poverty  and  in  debt 
after  having  greatly  prospered  with  D.  R.  Williams  and 
other  associates.  He  was  held  in  esteem  by  Jefferson 
and  reaped  a  rich  harvest  in  being  an  organ  of  the  gov- 
ernments, both  of  which  were  democratic. 

Editor  Williams  became  also  a  member  of  the 
Charleston  Mechanic  Society,  a  benevolent  and  social 
organization,  formed  in  1794  and  incorporated  in  1798, 
with  the  statement  through  the  Junior  Warden,  "that 
from  the  nature  of  their  employment,  and  the  smallness 
of  their  capital,  they  are  more  exposed  than  any  other 
class  of  citizens  to  the  inconveniences  and  distresses 
arising  from  sickness,  and  such  other  unavoidable  ac- 
cidents as  may  deprive  themselves  and  their  families 
of  the  benefit  of  their  exertions;  and  that  they  have 
unitedjinto  a  society  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  fund,  by 
means  of  which  such  of  them  as  are  successful  in  the 
world,  will  be  enabled,  without  inconvenience,  to  afford 
relief  to  the  unfortunate."*  As  no  reason  has  been 
found  for  classing  him  as  a  mechanic  (he  was  skilled 
in  the  use  of  tools),  the  alternative  is  left  that  he  was 
prompted  by  purely  benevolent  motives  to  pay  an  ini- 
tiation fee  of  ten  dollars  and  an  annual  fee  of  eight.     It 

*Professor  Yates  Snowdon's  "Labor  Organizations  in  South  Carolina,  1 742-1861." 

55 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

was  doubtless  his  way  of  showing  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  his  printers  and  their  families.  He  was  so  consti- 
tuted that  he  enjoyed  the  annual  banquets,  with  their 
good  cheer  and  postprandial  eloquence. 

On  the  8th  of  February,  after  a  violent  illness  lasting 
nine  days,  Mrs.  Sarah  Williams,  wife  of  editor  Williams 
and  daughter  of  Nicholas  Power  of  Providence,  closed 
her  brief  probation  of  twenty-nine  years.  "When 
character  rises  to  the  dignity  of  example,"  said  the 
Courier,  "its  traits  of  goodness  should  not  be  lost  to  the 
world.  In  her  the  benevolence  of  a  mind,  nurtured  by 
religion  and  virtue,  was  excelled  only  by  charity,  tender 
and  profuse.  The  accomplishments  acquired  by  edu- 
cation were  in  her  exceeded  by  the  nobler  endowments, 
equanimity  of  mind,  sweetness  of  temper,  and  a  strength 
of  intellect  rarely  to  be  met  with.  The  period  of  ex- 
istence she  had  been  permitted  to  enjoy  in  this  transi- 
tory state  had  been  short  yet  it  was  wholly  passed  in 
the  fulfillment  of  every  duty. 

"As  a  wife,  as  a  daughter,  as  a  mother  and  as  a  friend, 
her  conduct  excelled — hers  was  a  life  without  an  inten- 
tional fault,  and  truly  honorable  to  her  friends;  the 
recollections  of  which  is  highly  consolatory  to  her  be- 
reaved relatives." 

A  break  in  the  volumes  of  the  Gazette  preserved  in  the 
Charleston  Library  leaves  the  date  of  Mr.  Williams* 
final  farewell  to  the  editorial  chair  unknown.  His 
pen  was  laid  aside  before  July,  when  his  election  as 
Warden  of  St.  David's  Society  before  his  return  indi- 
cated his  next  move  to  Society  Hill  and  Centre  Hall. 
There  he  began  at  once  to  identify  himself  with  the 
financial  and  educational  interests  of  the  community, 
and  to  make  it  henceforth  the  point  from  which  he 

56 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

sallied  forth  to  do  the  work  of  a  man,  in  his  day  and 
generation. 

Sources:  The  Centennial  Edition  of  the  News  and 
Courier,  Bassett's  History  of  the  United  States,  the 
Carolina  Gazette,  the  Charleston  Courier,  Thomas' 
Reminiscences,  and  Prof.  Yates  Snowdon's  Labor  Or- 
ganizations, 1743-1861. 


57 


CHAPTER  VII 

HIS    HONORED    MOTHER 

MRS.  ANNE  WILLIAMS,  the  mother  of  David 
R.  Williams,  became  a  widow  in  January, 
1776.  Before  December,  1782,  she  had  married 
Capt.  Jeremiah  Brown.  He  came  to  the  Bluff  about 
1771,  from  New  England  apparently,  and  purchased 
three  acres  adjoining  the  Court  House  and  adjacent  to 
the  dwelling  of  Roderick  Mclver.  He  also  purchased 
two  small  tracts  on  the  west  side  of  the  Pedee.  He  was 
one  of  the  early  and  liberal  members  of  the  St.  David's 
Society.  In  August,  1779,  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Welsh  Neck  Church.  One  of  his  small  tracts  answers  in 
size  and  situation  to  the  one  mentioned  in  the  Memoirs 
of  Edmund  Botsford:  "On  a  tract  of  land  presented 
him  by  a  Mr.  Brown,  on  the  southwest  side  of  the  Pedee 
about  two  miles  of  the  church,  the  church  built  a  house 
and  he  called  it  Bethel." 

From  1786  to  1789  he  was  absent  from  the  Society's 
meetings,  having  moved  to  Charleston;  but  in  1788 
Mr.  Brown  was  on  the  Pedee  pushing  farm  work.  Mrs. 
Brown  was  in  Charleston,  where  her  daughter  Mary 
Ann  became,  about  1790,  the  wife  of  John  Mclver, 
whose  death  has  been  recorded  above.  Both  mother 
and  daughter  were  members  of  the  Old  First  church 
and  "Pompey  a  servant  of  Mr.  Williams"  was  probably 

58 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

a  colored  representative  of  the  family.  In  1789  Mr. 
Botsford,  in  instructing  Mr.  Furman  how  to  care  for 
some  pamphlets  being  printed  in  Charleston,  added: 
"If  it  is  inconvenient  or  disagreeable  for  you  to  receive 
them,  you  will  be  so  kind  as  to  request  Mrs.  Mclver  to 
send  them  to  Mrs.  Brown's.     Our  friend  Mr.  Brown  is 

restored  to  health  and  is  very,  very but  not  in  the 

preaching  line,  though  I  am  informed  he  considers  him- 
self as  an  ordained  minister  by  virtue  of  the  call  received 
from  the  church.  He  has  agreed  to  take  a  plantation 
and  nine  or  ten  hands,  which  is  situated  contiguous  to 
him  on  this  side  of  the  river,  at  least  I  am  informed  so, 
and  says:  "If  Mr.  Hart*  does  not  conclude  to  come  to 
Pedee,  he  will  take  Mr.  Mclver' s  land  and  some  hands, 
as  the  land  joins  his  place  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
and  all  this  to  enable  him  to  spare  more  time  for  the 
ministry.  He  embarked  in  his  own  boat  laden  with 
corn  Saturday  for  Georgetown.  See  what  it  is  to  be 
industrious." 

The  pastor  at  Charleston  (Furman)  and  the  pastor 
at  Society  Hill  and  later  at  Georgetown  (Botsford)  were 
correspondents  more  than  thirty  years.  Mrs.  Brown 
was  known  and  respected  by  both  of  them.  Mr.  Bots- 
ford had  recently  married  Mrs.  Evans,  a  widowed  sister 
of  Mrs.  Brown's  son-in-law,  John  Mclver.  He  there- 
fore had  a  double  interest  in  the  Brown  family  as  an 
excuse  for  writing  to  Mr.  Furman  in  May,  1793:  "I 
wish  to  hear  respecting  Captain  Brown  and  lady;  his 
brother  has  left  these  parts  for  little  Pedee."  Mr. 
Furman's  reply  assumes  that  Mr.  Botsford  had  already 
heard  Captain  Brown's  version  of  the  matter:  "The 

*Mr.  Hart,  pastor  at  Charleston  1750-1780,  was  in  New  Jersey  and  was  considering 
a  return  to  the  state.     He  died  not  long  afterward. 

59 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

affair  respecting  Mrs.  Brown,  you  have  no  doubt  heard 
from  Mr.  Brown  himself.  I  had  not  much  to  do  in  the 
business  and  some  of  your  friends  here  wish  you  had 
less.  Mrs.  Brown,  I  believe,  never  was  averse  to  an 
amicable  settlement ;  though  she  for  some  time  seriously 
apprehended  it  was  his  intention  to  leave  her,  or  at  least 
convey  the  property  he  is  possessed  of,  to  his  relatives 
exclusively;  for  the  first  she  had  reasons  of  which  it  is 
probable  you  are  yet  uninformed;  and  for  the  latter, 
reasons  perhaps  still  exist.  In  what  little  I  had  to  say, 
I  was  always  an  advocate  of  peace  on  proper  (that  is 
reasonable)  considerations;  and  I  must  say  I  never 
found  Mrs.  Brown  averse  to  it  on  these  terms,  and  on 
proper  assurances  being  given,  Captain  Brown's  word 
and  profession,  you  know,  unhappily,  has  been  rendered 
very  light.  Mrs.  Brown  professing  satisfaction  and 
he  requesting,  he  was  admitted  to  communion  with  us; 
but  I  confess  it  was  with  the  utmost  exertion  of  charity, 
on  my  part — should  you  ask  why?  I  answer  because 
when  he  undertook  as  a  penitent  to  relate  these  things 
which  had  been  the  cause  of  the  uneasiness,  it  appeared 
to  be  in  the  style  of  excuse  and  palliation,  such  as  is 
proper  for  injured  innocence.  Even  the  nefarious  busi- 
ness respecting  Bainbridge*  was  represented  in  this 
light  as  goodness  imposed  upon  and  kind  simplicity 
deceived.  Conversation  had  with  myself  at  the  very 
time  that  business  was  being  transacted  (or  directly 
after  Bainbridge  went  away  to  Georgetown)  in  which 
ignorance   was   profest   respecting  his    (Bainbridge's) 

*Bainbridge,  a  son  of  a  Maryland  Tory,  came  to  Charleston  about  1784  and  having 
some  gifts  in  speaking  was  sent  to  Society  Hill  to  St.  David's  Academy  where  he  made 
rapid  progress.  He  became  a  minister  and  soon  developed  into  a  bad  man  and  fled 
from  the  clutches  of  the  law.  His  crime  is  not  known,  but  in  New  Jersey  he  suddenly 
departed  with  $10,000  not  his  own. 

60 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

design;  and  his  own  going  away  to  Georgetown  in  the 
vessel  which  carried  Bainbridge  away,  was  represented 
to  be  accidental  (all  which  is  now  acknowledged  to  be 
otherwise)  is  prof  est  to  be  forgotten;  and  an  entire 
different  account  given  of  what  was  transacted  in  George- 
town with  Delesseline,  from  what  Delesseline  related 
immediately  after  the  transaction.  I  mean  as  to  cir- 
cumstances which  make  a  prodigious  odds  in  the  com- 
plexion of  a  business.     I  could  add  more,  but " 

What  steps  Mrs.  Brown  took  to  uncover  Mr.  Brown's 
intention  of  defrauding  her  cannot  be  gathered  from 
the  guarded  words  used  in  reference  to  the  "affair"  and 
the  "uneasiness"  he  had  caused.  Mr.  Brown  had  pos- 
sessed himself  of  a  part  of  her  property  and  had  con- 
ducted himself  so  as  to  arouse  her  suspicion  and  to  lose 
the  confidence  of  his  pastor.  The  evidence  is  almost 
conclusive  that  his  plans  were  perfected  on  the  Pedee 
under  the  forms  of  law,  while  Mrs.  Brown  was  in 
Charleston.  Peace,  however,  was  patched  up  but  the 
intended  wrong  was  only  deferred. 

Three  years  later,  October  12,  1796,  Mr.  Botsford 
wrote  again:  "It  is  probable  you  have  heard  that  Cap- 
tain Brown  sold  his  negroes  to  Doctor  Mason It 

is  said  that  Mrs.  Brown  prior  to  the  sale  of  the  negroes 
to  Doctor  Mason  sold  them  to  David  Williams.  What 
gives  the  report  some  credit  among  us  is  that  Captain 
Brown  offered  the  negroes  to  David  for  500  pounds 
and  he  refused  them  (having  previously  bargained  for 
them  from  his  mother?),  which  being  interpreted  with 
some  misgivings  means  that  Mr.  Brown  in  his  eagerness 
to  turn  Mrs.  Brown's  twelve  negroes  and  their  increase 
in  the  last  twenty  years  into  cash,  sold  them  to  Doctor 
Mason  at  a  price  which  netted  the  latter  in  a  quick  sale 

61 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

"300  pounds  and  a  likely  boy."  Within  the  next  year 
Mr.  Brown  was  in  Georgetown  with  Pastor  Botsford 
and  "seemed  at  times  beside  himself  respecting  the 
conduct  of  Mrs.  Brown."  What  had  Mrs.  Brown  done? 
He  was  winding  up  affairs  in  South  Carolina,  resigning 
from  St.  David's  Society,  calling  for  his  letter  and  do- 
nating a  tract  of  land  on  the  Pedee  to  the  Fund  of  the 
General  Committee  of  the  Charleston  Association. 
She  had  evidently  given  him  his  "walking  papers." 
Twenty-four  years  after  the  donation  of  the  tract  the 
Association  appointed  a  committee  to  resurvey  the 
tract  and  establish  its  claim.  A  suit  was  pending 
several  years  before  the  trespasser  was  ejected.  A  part 
of  it  was  sold  for  $428.50.  A  letter  written  to  his  father 
September,  1799,  by  Wood  Furman  then  at  Rhode 
Island  College,  lifts  the  curtain  from  the  place  whence 
the  adventurer  came  and  whither  he  went : 

"I  am  informed  by  Captain  Brown's  relations,  that 
he  is  certainly  married  and  lives  somewhere  on  North 
River.  It  is  reported  here  that  he  had  been  divorced. 
I  mentioned  that  no  such  thing  was  practised  in  our 
state.  It  is  said  at  least  that  he  has  a  paper  signed  by 
Mrs.  Brown,  in  which  she  agrees  to  a  separation  from 
him.  I  suppose,  if  this  is  the  case,  it  is  made  use  of, 
instead  of  a  divorce,  to  justify  his  conduct  in  marrying 
again."  The  statement  about  the  signature  rests  upon 
the  veracity  of  Jeremiah  Brown.  The  laws  of  the  state 
once  guarded  very  imperfectly  the  property  of  married 
women  against  unscrupulous  husbands  and  their  amend- 
ment must  be  credited  to  the  publicity  given  to  such 
conduct  as  was  exhibited  in  this  case.  Divorces  have 
never  been  granted  in  South  Carolina,  except  in  a  few 
cases  during  the  carpet-bag  regime,  when  a  plump  sum 

62 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

of  money  could  snap  the  ties  that  were  to  bind  till 
death.  Separation  a  mensa  et  toro,  from  bed  and 
board,  has  always  been  honorable,  since  two  cannot 
walk  together  except  they  be  agreed.  Mrs.  Brown 
suffered  in  mind,  property  and  rights,  but  she  retained 
the  moral  support  of  Richard  Furman  her  pastor  in 
Charleston  where  she  appears  to  have  been  from  1787 
to  1803.  In  December  of  that  last-mentioned  year,  her 
letter  of  dismission  was  accepted  by  the  Welsh  Neck 
church.  From  that  time  till  her  death,  she  was  at  So- 
ciety Hill,  presumably  an  honored  guest  in  David's 
house,  and  mother  of  his  boys,  Nicholas  and  George, 
together  perhaps  with  her  daughter  and  her  five  chil- 
dren. She  lived  to  follow  her  son  with  a  mother's  inter- 
est in  the  honors  won  on  the  farm  and  in  the  forum. 
On  June  1,  1811,  the  Welsh  Neck  church  showed  its 
appreciation  of  her  worth  by  appointing  "Daniel  White 
and  Evander  Mclver  to  write  and  have  published  the 
obituary  of  sister  Ann  Brown  late  of  this  church,  as  a 
testimony  of  her  great  piety  and  zeal  and  our  high  es- 
teem of  her."  "Dear  Woman,"  exclaimed  her  former 
pastor  when  he  heard  of  her  death,  "she  has  left  few,  if 
any,  behind  her  animated  with  the  same  zealous  con- 
cern for  the  glory  of  God.  She  rests  from  her  labors 
and  her  works  follow  her." 


63 


CHAPTER  VIII 

IN   THE   NINTH   CONGRESS 

MR.  WILLIAMS'  resignation  had  not  been  sent 
to  the  St.  David's  Society,  although  his  home 
had  been  transferred  to  Charleston.  He  was 
treated  as  an  absent  member  who  paid  up  dues  and 
remained  in  good  standing.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
he  sold  his  entire  property  to  John  E.  Mclver,  but  if 
he  did,  the  death  of  Mr.  Mclver  occurred  before  the 
transaction  was  recorded.  He  was  made  warden  of  the 
Society,  and  the  minutes  of  that  body  show  that  he  was 
at  Centre  Hall  or  Society  Hill  the  two  years  succeeding 
his  return,  but  nothing  has  come  to  light  concerning  his 
farming  operations.  In  1805  he  made  an  excursion 
through  the  Northern  States,  and  renewed  his  ac- 
quaintance with  the  good  people  of  Providence.  He 
called  on  President  Messer  with  the  hope  of  securing  a 
teacher  for  St.  David's  Academy.  What  his  private 
business  might  have  been  besides  the  pleasure  of  an 
outing,  must  be  guessed  from  his  well-known  interest 
in  the  cotton  crop  and  improvements  in  its  manufacture; 
the  first  cotton  seed  oil  was  pressed  about  this  time  and 
the  fifth  cotton  factory  in  New  England  was  built. 
(Thomas.)  Possibly  his  return  home  was  through 
Washington  where  his  entrance  into  politics  may  have 
received  a  practical  impulse. 

64 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

The  first  representative  of  Darlington  District  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  was  Lemuel  Benton  who 
arrived  in  Philadelphia  on  the  last  day  of  the  session 
in  1794,  presented  his  credentials,  was  enrolled  on  his 
own  condition  that  he  should  receive  no  money  for  ex- 
penses or  attendance.  There  had  been  sickness  in  his 
family  and  a  detention  by  a  long  voyage.  He  gave 
way  to  Benjamin  Huger  in  1799  who  served  in  the  Sixth, 
Seventh  and  Eighth  Congresses  and  was  succeeded  by 
David  R.  Williams  in  the  same  general  election  which 
made  President  Jefferson  his  own  successor.  In  his 
first  term,  Jefferson  had  succeeded  in  giving  perma- 
nency to  the  democratic  revolution  and  kept  politics  in 
a  continual  simmer. 

By  a  fortunate  concurrence  of  circumstances,  the 
President  purchased  the  Louisiana  territory  at  a  price 
which  his  opponent  and  critic,  John  Randolph,  declared 
not  too  much  to  pay  for  the  bed  of  the  father  of  waters. 
The  addition  of  so  much  territory  on  the  southern  side 
added  fuel  to  the  jealousy  already  existing  between  the 
two  sections.  When  Mr.  Adams  retired  from  the  presi- 
dency in  favor  of  a  Southern  man,  it  meant  that  the 
paramount  influence  in  the  executive  department  was 
and  was  to  be  Southern ;  and  the  keen-eyed  Federalists 
looked  on  in  dismay  as  they  saw  the  prospect  of  large 
additions  to  the  Southern  forces,  and  perceived  no  es- 
cape from  a  secondary  position  except  in  secession. 
Accordingly  Hamilton  was  to  be  nominated  for  Gover- 
nor of  New  York  with  the  ulterior  view  of  carrying  the 
state  out  of  the  union  into  a  contemplated  New  Eng- 
land Confederacy.  But  Hamilton  declined  and  Burr 
was  found  with  a  more  pliant  conscience.  His  defeat 
for  the  gubernatorial  office  brought  on  the  collisions 

65 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

frequent  and  varied  between  Burr  and  Hamilton  and 
the  subsequent  disturbing  events. 

In  the  meantime  the  United  States  was  becoming 
the  second  commercial  nation.  For  twelve  years  there 
had  been  war  in  Europe  and  the  sagacious  and  energetic 
commercial  magnates  of  the  New  England  and  Middle 
States  seized  the  opportunity  of  becoming  the  carriers 
of  the  world's  trade.  It  was  asked  in  the  House,  where 
did  they  get  the  money  to  carry  on  the  world's  trade, 
and  it  was  answered  with  another  question,  "  A  traveller 
passing  through  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  might  ask, 
'Whence  this  immense  wealth  I  see?'"  The  first  five 
years  of  the  new  century  were  "halcyon  days"  to  the 
New  England  merchantmen  and  in  the  same  years  at 
the  South  cotton  was  at  a  high  price  and  field  hands, 
provided  by  non-native  kidnappers,  were  brought  in 
in  great  numbers  to  cultivate  the  fleecy  staple. 

It  was  in  such  an  interesting  juncture  of  affairs  that 
Mr.  Williams  heard  the  siren's  song  and  came  to  the 
front  at  Washington,  being  enrolled  in  the  House  on 
December  2,  1805,  in  his  thirtieth  year.  He  had  his 
views  already  matured  and,  as  will  be  seen,  ever  acted  in 
entire  accord  with  them.  He  was  at  first  opposed  to 
any  steps  which  would  lead  to  war,  or  to  any  action  which 
would  curtail  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  He  was  not 
a  prophet;  he  judged  the  future  by  the  past  and  whenever 
he  erred  it  was  because  the  weightier  reasonings  from 
past  experience  were  not  quite  applicable  to  the  young 
nation's  development  on  new  lines.  The  first  cold  dip 
administered  to  the  warmth  of  his  patriotism  was 
administered  in  a  part  of  the  President's  message: 
"Our  coasts  have  been  infested,  our  harbors  watched  by 
private  armed  vessels,  some  of  them  without  commis- 

66 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

sion,  some  with  illegal  commissions,  others  with  those 
of  legal  form,  but  committing  piratical  acts.  They 
have  captured  in  the  very  entrance  of  our  harbors,  as 
well  as  on  the  high  seas,  not  only  the  vessels  of  our 
friends  coming  to  trade  with  us,  but  also  our  own.  They 
have  carried  them  off  under  pretense  of  legal  adjudica- 
tion, plundered  or  sunk  them  by  the  way,  maltreated 
the  crews,  abandoned  them  in  boats,  in  the  open  sea  or 
desert  shores  without  food." 

The  work  of  the  session  and  of  the  Ninth  Congress 
was  directed  largely  by  the  recommendations  of  this 
message,  to  fortify  the  port  towns,  to  increase  the 
number  of  gunboats,  to  organize  the  militia  and  modify 
its  system.  The  President  wanted  peace  in  order  to 
liquidate  the  public  debt  and  preserve  the  present 
prosperity.  His  course  and  that  of  President  Madison 
appear  from  subsequent  points  of  view  to  have  been 
timid  and  almost  pusillanimous;  but  they  were  sailing  in 
dangerous  waters,  between  Scylla  and  Charybdis. 
That  they  passed  safely  through  dangers  within  and 
without  to  which  they  were  exposed,  and  handed  over 
the  ship  of  state  to  their  successors,  is  proof  of  some 
fitness  for  the  delicate  task  of  rearing  to  maturity  an 
infant  republic. 

Mr.  Williams'  first  speech  was  brought  out  by  a  criti- 
cism of  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina.  That  body 
had  removed  in  1803  the  restrictions  against  the  im- 
portation of  slaves  and  made  South  Carolina  the  only 
state  and  Charleston  the  only  port  where  slaves  could 
be  lawfully  imported.  It  was  proposed  to  lay  a  tax  of 
ten  dollars  on  each  imported  slave,  but  Mr.  Williams 
asked  that  the  matter  be  postponed  about  a  fortnight, 
as  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  then  in  session 

67 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

would  probably  repeal  the  action  of  1803.  This  course 
was  pursued,  but  in  the  South  Carolina  legislature,  the 
House  favored  the  closing  of  the  port,  but  in  the  Senate 
it  was  lost  by  one  vote.  The  subject  therefore  was 
reintroduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Wash- 
ington and  discussed  with  more  or  less  restraint  and 
feeling.  Nathaniel  Macon  said  it  was  an  evil  for  which 
the  wisest  man  in  the  nation  could  not  satisfy  himself 
with  a  cure  and  Bidwell  of  Massachusetts  said  "it  will 
weaken  us  as  a  nation,"  a  remark  supported  by  the 
three-fifth  valuation  of  the  negro  by  the  Constitution,  a 
ratio  which  will  probably  never  be  increased  as  a  freed- 
man.  Mr.  Williams  became  restive  and  made  some 
warm  remarks  in  reply  to  speeches  which  were  not 
recorded  in  the  Annual  Register: 

"If  the  object  of  bringing  forward  the  business  was 
to  give  gentlemen  an  opportunity  to  vent  their  spleen 
against  South  Carolina,  they  had  enjoyed  it,  when  they 
had  painted  her  conduct  in  the  most  odious  and  detest- 
able colors  their  ingenuity  could  invent;  when  they  had 
cast  upon  the  community,  in  a  most  unmanly  manner, 
all  the  opprobrium  applicable  to  an  inhabitant  of  New- 
gate ;  and  has  applied  to  a  whole  community  what  they 
dare  not  apply  to  a  single  individual  of  it.  There  was 
not  a  state  in  the  Union  which  had  appropriated  so 
much  money  for  objects  of  munificence  and  improve- 
ment of  literature,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  poor. 
Was  South  Carolina  backward  in  the  Revolutionary 
contest,  or  deficient  in  patriots  or  statesmen?  There 
sits  a  descendant  (Robert  Marion)  of  as  brave  an  officer 
as  ever  lived,  and  in  the  other  branch  of  the  legislature 
is  to  be  seen  a  man  (Sumter)  who  may  be  called  the 
hero  of  liberty;  a  man  who  in  the  worst  of  times  did  not 

68 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

despair  of  the  republic.  Are  we  now  to  be  anathema- 
tized as  depraved  and  abandoned?" 

The  debate  about  slavery  continued  at  intervals 
through  the  Ninth  Congress  up  to  the  passage  of  the  act 
forbidding  the  importation  of  slaves.  The  rancor  ex- 
hibited in  the  discussion  satisfied  John  Randolph  that 
"if  the  time  of  disunion  between  the  states  should 
arrive,  the  line  of  severance  would  be  between  the 
slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding  states."  He  fore- 
saw also  the  danger  of  the  Northern  people's  becoming 
an  abolition  society.  Southern  people,  he  thought, 
were  no  more  to  blame  for  slavery  than  they  were  for 
their  own  procreation.  The  tax  failed  to  become  a 
measure. 

The  discussion  of  the  non-intercourse  act  which 
aimed  at  excluding  merchandise  from  England  until 
satisfactory  reparation  for  impressment  of  citizens  and 
seizures  of  vessels  should  be  made,  brought  a  speech 
from  Mr.  Williams  in  opposition.  As  it  appeared  to 
him,  the  non-intercourse  act  would  lead  to  war,  would 
destroy  a  great  part  of  the  revenue,  bring  to  an  end  the 
unexampled  prosperity  of  the  country  and  expose  the 
unfortified  seaport  towns  to  fleets  of  the  enemy. 
Charleston  had  one  four  pounder  on  a  crazy  carriage 
in  a  dilapidated  fort  as  her  defence.  American  success 
in  the  competition  for  the  carrying  trade  was  the  cause  of 
British  encroachments.  It  was  a  trade  which  benefited  a 
few,  and  their  salvation  could  not  be  worked  out  at  the 
expense  of  everything  dear  to  the  nation.  The  act  was 
passed  after  a  long  discussion  and  the  President  was 
authorized  to  organize,  arm,  and  equip  100,000  militia 
and  have  them  ready  for  service  at  a  moment's  notice. 

After  March  31st  Mr.  Williams  went  to  his  planta- 

69 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

tion  and  mingled  with  his  people.  It  is  probable  that 
in  this  summer  or  fall  he  began  his  extensive  and  costly 
enterprise  of  erecting  a  dam  along  the  Pedee.  He  re- 
turned to  Washington  the  first  of  December  on  time 
according  to  his  fixed  rule;  and  on  the  second  day  heard 
the  President's  message  read.  The  one  paragraph 
which  stirred  him  to  opposition  referred  to  the  building 
of  gunboats  authorized  in  the  preceding  session  and 
the  large  number  needed  to  be  built.  The  remarks, 
compressed  by  the  editor,  were:  "We  have  gunboats 
enough  for  use  in  the  places  where  they  are  useful. 
Some  gentlemen  are  disposed  to  make  fun  of  gunboats, 
but  they  originated  in  federal  times  and  those  first  built 
were  indeed  curious  creatures.  They  were  a  sort  of 
amphibious  animal,  they  were  a  perfect  nondescript 
and  formed  a  new  era  in  naval  architecture.  They  had 
two  heads,  two  keels,  and  never  a  stern.  We  have 
made  some  improvements  and  I  hope  we  shall  make 
more." 

Mr.  Williams  went  to  Congress  as  a  democrat,  free 
as  the  wind;  and  in  the  second  session  opposed  some 
of  the  administration  policies.  He  was  too  independent 
and  ill-suited  by  his  training  to  become  a  blind  follower 
of  a  party.  He  was  characterized  by  simplicity,  candor, 
courtesy  and  moved  by  no  ignoble  motives.  Too 
energetic  to  be  half-hearted  and  too  transparently 
honest  in  his  methods  to  be  a  politician,  he  found  him- 
self not  unfrequently  in  the  minority  when  he  was 
morally  right.  One  of  his  first  visits  about  the  capital 
was  to  the  navy  yard  to  see  the  improvements  being 
made;  and  when  he  inquired  under  what  appropriation 
they  were  authorized,  the  same  answer  was  returned 
more  than  once,  "  Under  the  Contingent  Fund."     When 

70 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

the  naval  appropriation  came  up  at  the  close  of  the 
session  for  approval,  Mr.  Williams  made  several  at- 
tempts to  have  the  contingent  fund  itemized  or  changed 
so  as  to  be  understood  for  what  it  was  being  spent.  His 
motions  as  recorded  in  the  Annals  present  the  appear- 
ance of  filibustering,  but  in  the  light  of  his  own  conduct, 
when  he  had  the  power,  it  was  an  effort  after  transpar- 
ency in  the  financial  management  of  the  government 
which  derived  its  power  from  the  will  of  the  people. 

He  was  warm-hearted  and  generous,  and  had  a  flow 
of  language  which  seldom  failed  to  find  the  exact  word, 
though  it  sometimes  had  the  appearance  of  exagger- 
ation, corresponding  to  the  intensity  of  his  feelings. 
At  one  time  he  spoke  when  it  was  "extremely  unpleas- 
ant" to  do  so;  at  another  time  he  had  a  feeling  of  "ran- 
corous hostility"  to  a  certain  policy.  The  liberty  taken 
by  an  architect  to  make  changes  in  the  plan  of  work 
he  designated  as  "outrageous  audacity."  England 
was  a  shark  and  France  was  a  tiger.  When  opposing 
a  partial  appropriation  in  favor  of  New  York,  he  de- 
clared, and  it  was  no  hyperbole,  that  it  was  already  one 
thousand  times  better  fortified  than  Charleston.  He 
stigmatized  the  action  of  the  Georgia  legislature  in  the 
Yazoo  frauds  as  "enormous  villanies." 

He  knew  how  to  pay  delicate  compliments  as  well  as 
to  effervesce  under  unfair  criticism.  From  one  of  his 
colleagues  (Nelson)  he  differed  on  a  military  question, 
but  he  had  great  respect  for  the  man  who  carried  on 
his  body  two  and  twenty  wounds  received  in  the  service 
of  his  country.  Of  Nathaniel  Macon,  he  said,  "a 
gentleman  from  whom  I  differ  with  more  pain  than 
from  any  other."  Notwithstanding  his  impetuous 
energy  and  outflowing  eloquence,  he  was  called  to  order 

71 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

but  once  and  to  personal  account  never.  When  smart- 
ing under  an  insinuation  that  he  was  in  the  objective 
case,  opposed  to  the  administration  and  unpatriotic, 
his  unstudied  response  was,  "I  abhor  and  detest  the 
imputation"  etc.  His  speeches  showed  a  knowledge  of 
the  subject  and  acquaintance  with  history  in  general 
and  especially  with  conditions  in  this  country.  He  tried 
to  avoid  any  misunderstanding  or  misrepresentation 
of  his  opponents  and  his  gentlemanly  bearing  was  inci- 
dentally attested  by  John  Randolph  who  once  inter- 
rupted him  while  speaking  and  offered  as  his  apology 
that  he  was  about  the  only  man  with  whom  he  would 
take  that  liberty. 

The  Ninth  Congress  closed  March  3,  1807.  Elias 
Earle,  Thomas  Moore,  William  Butler,  Robert  Marion, 
O'Brien  Smith,  were,  with  the  subject  of  our  sketch, 
the  surviving  members  of  the  delegation  from  South 
Carolina,  Levi  Casey  having  died  during  the  session. 
These  agricultural  Solons  reached  home  in  time  to 
pitch  their  crops  and  to  look  after  their  political  fences, 
and  to  prepare  for  the  race  which  was  to  return  them 
to  Congress  or  leave  them  at  home  to  reflect  upon  the 
rancor  of  politics  and  the  vileness  of  the  political 
animal. 


72 


CHAPTER  IX 

IN  THE  TENTH   CONGRESS 

THE  physical  and  mental  equipment  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liams made  him  a  formidable  candidate.  He 
had  "an  exalted  combination  of  intellectual  and 
physical  energy — energy  incarnate  and  a  marvellous 
vocal  power."*  Blameless  in  his  reputation,  he  had 
nothing  to  hide  in  reference  to  the  past  or  fear  for  the 
future.  He  was  a  planter  and  knew  just  where  the 
shoe  pinched  his  own  and  his  constituents'  feet;  and 
he  knew  how  to  use  the  homely  and  powerful  mother 
tongue  to  convey  his  meaning  to  the  humblest  man 
among  his  hearers.  He  was  too  wise  and  experienced 
to  make  promises  which  could  not  be  fulfilled.  Yet  he 
had  competition,  if  our  reckoning  be  correct,  which 
well-nigh  deprived  him  of  his  seat.  A  traveller  hailing 
from  Connecticut  has  left  in  his  diary  of  this  year  an 
account  of  the  race  in  Greenville  District  of  Elias  Earle, 
a  colleague  of  Mr.  Williams,  who  asked  the  mountain- 
eers to  return  him  to  Congress.  The  people  in  that 
section  were  fifty  years  behind  Society  Hill  socially, 
politically,  and  in  educational  and  religious  advantages; 
but  the  political  methods  were  probably  similar,  dif- 
fering only  in  degree.  There  were  good  men  who 
would  not  allow  their  competitors'  jugs  to  pull  them 

*Mr.  J.  W.  DuBose's  description. 

73 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

down  to  the  same  level;  but  the  beverage,  by  whatever 
name  it  is  called,  has  always  played  too  conspicuous  a 
part  in  electioneering  times.  At  old  Pickensville,  about 
thirteen  miles  from  Greenville,  the  people  met  on  muster 
day,  September  27,  1807,  to  hear  the  candidates  talk 
and  speak.  One  of  the  candidates  was  called  by  his 
opponents  a  Federalist,  another  was  too  good  a  doctor 
to  send  away  from  home,  and  the  present  incumbent 
was  an  enemy  to  religion  because  he  went  to  church 
and  stayed  out  to  talk  and  electioneer.  Over  in  the 
Darlington  District  Mr.  Williams  was  damming  out 
from  his  bottoms  the  Pedee  freshets  and  the  worst  that 
was  brought  against  him  was,  "A  man  who  attempts  the 
impossible  is  too  big  a  fool  to  go  to  Congress." 

Edward  Hooker,  a  teacher  at  Ninety-six,  while  rusti- 
cating in  the  mountains,  wrote  in  his  diary  the  follow- 
ing description  of  the  proceedings  at  Pickensville: 
"The  three  candidates  for  Congress,  Alston,  Hunter, 
and  Earle,  were  present  electioneering  with  all  their 
might — distributing  whiskey,  giving  dinners,  talking, 
and  haranguing,  their  friends  at  the  same  time  making 
similar  exertions  for  them.  Besides  these,  there  was  a 
number  of  candidates  for  the  Assembly.  It  was  a  sin- 
gular scene  of  noise,  blab,  and  confusion.  I  placed 
myself  on  a  flight  of  stairs  where  I  could  have  a  good 
view  of  the  multitude,  and  there  stood  for  some  time 
an  astonished  spectator  of  a  scene  the  resemblance  of 
which  I  had  never  before  witnessed;  a  scene  ludicrous 
indeed  when  superficially  observed,  but  a  scene  highly 
alarming  when  viewed  by  one  who  considers  at  the 
same  time  what  inroads  are  made  upon  the  sacred  right 
of  suffrage.  Handbills  containing  accusations  of  fed- 
eralism against  one,  of  abuse  of  public  trust  against 

74 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

another,  of  fraudulent  speculation  against  a  third  and 
numerous  reports  of  a  slanderous  and  scurrilous  nature 
were  freely  circulated.  Much  drinking,  swearing,  curs- 
ing and  threatening — but  I  saw  no  fighting.  The 
minds  of  uninformed  people  were  much  agitated — and 
many  well-meaning  people  were  made  to  believe  the 
national  welfare  was  at  stake  and  would  be  determined 
by  the  issue  of  this  backwoods  election.  Doctor  Hunter 
conducted  with  the  most  dignity,  or  rather  with  the 
least  indignity,  on  this  disgraceful  occasion — confining 
himself  to  a  room  in  the  tavern,  and  not  mixing  with 
the  multidude  in  the  street;  Alston  fought  for  prose- 
lytes and  adherents  in  the  street,  but  took  them  into 
the  bar-room  to  treat  them;  but  Earle  who  loved  the 
people  more  than  any  of  them  had  his  grog  bench  in 
the  middle  of  the  street  and  presided  over  the  whiskey 
jugs  himself.' ' 

Mr.  Williams  was  elected,  but  Joseph  Calhoun,  John 
Taylor,  and  L.  J.  Alston  were  sent  in  the  place  of  three 
members  in  the  Ninth  Congress.  A  special  session  was 
called  in  October  on  account  of  a  crisis  in  international 
affairs.  In  June  the  Leopard  had  attacked  the  Chesa- 
peake, and  England  had  issued  her  order  interdicting 
trade  by  neutrals  between  ports  in  amity  with  her.  As 
they  stood  upon  the  brink  of  the  precipice,  they  were 
compared  to  "innocent,  defenceless  sheep,  without 
prudence,  and  almost  without  a  shepherd,  who  had  been 
cropping  the  rich  harvest  of  neutrality  on  the  very 
field  where  the  wild  beasts  have  been  at  combat,  and 
pressing  unexpected  fatness,  between  the  lion  and  the 
tiger  in  the  midst  of  their  rage."  The  first  session  of 
the  Tenth  Congress  lasted  six  months  and  the  second 
nearly  four.     The  delegation  from  South  Carolina  had 

75 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

been  respectable  but  not  very  influential.     Mr.  Wil- 
liams was  in  the  lead,  but  his  independence,  frank 
speech,  and  warm  retorts  curtailed  somewhat  his  sway 
over  his  confreres.     He  found  use  for  the  knowledge 
laid  up  in  his  early  reading  at  Providence  and  supple- 
mented it  by  a  library  of  his  own.     He  was  diligent 
above  the  average  in  his  efforts  to  grasp  the  political 
situation  and  serve  his  country.     The  farm  down  on  the 
Pedee  satisfied  his  moderate  desires  and  left  him  unim- 
peded in  his  ambition  to  serve  his  country.     For  him 
there  were  no  half-formed  convictions  and  no  favor  of 
temporizing  measures.     His  speeches  were  on  naval  ap- 
propriations, the  increase  of  the  navy,  the  embargo,  its 
enforcement,   amendment,  or  repeal,   and  on  foreign 
relations.     His  reasoning  on  the  subject  brought  him 
to  a  decided  opposition  to  the  navy  and  its  increase, 
because  there  was  no  commerce  to  defend,  and  that  an 
increased  navy  would  be  in  the  end  as  it  was  in  Europe, 
an  augmentation  of  the  enemy's  sea  power.     The  grand 
scheme  of  the  administration  was  to  increase  the  num- 
ber of  gunboats  to  some  two  hundred  and  sixty  in 
number,  and  to  appropriate  one  million  for  fortifica- 
tions of  forty-five  ports  and  harbors  and  nearly  half  a 
million  for  arms  and  ammunition.     A  quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion annually  was  voted  for  arming  the  whole  body  of 
militia,  and  provisions  were  made  for  a  small  addition 
to  the  army. 

Mr.  Williams'  greatest  speech  in  the  Tenth  Congress 
was  deliveredjin  December,  1808,  on  the  embargo.  It 
was  imperfectly  reported  in  the  Annals  of  Congress, 
which  were  often  a  mixture  of  direct  and  indirect  dis- 
course. His  speeches  are  not  of  the  epic  character  in 
which  the  speaker  is  hid  from  view.    They  partake 

76 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

rather  of  the  lyric  subjectiveness  which  mingles  the 
thought  and  feelings  of  the  speaker  and  warms  the  logic 
of  his  discourse;  and  owing  to  the  feature  of  egoism, 
they  become  bits  of  autobiography.  The  selections 
from  his  speeches,  here  and  below,  are  selected  to  serve 
as  the  honest  index  of  what  the  public  servant  was. 
They  can  give  no  conception  of  his  speeches  as  a  whole : 
"Some  gentlemen  have  gone  into  a  discussion  of  the 
propriety  of  encouraging  manufactures  in  this  country. 
I  heard  with  regret  the  observation  of  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  on  this  subject.  I  will  be  excused  by  him 
for  offering  my  protest  against  those  sentiments.  I  am 
for  no  high  protecting  duties  in  favor  of  any  description 
of  men  in  this  country.  Extending  to  him  the  equal 
protection  of  the  law,  I  am  for  keeping  the  manufacturer 
on  the  same  footing  with  the  agriculturist.  Under  such 
a  system  they  will  increase  precisely  in  that  proportion 
which  will  essentially  advance  the  public  good.  So 
far  as  your  revenue  system  has  protected  the  interests 
of  your  merchants,  I  am  sincerely  rejoiced;  but  I  can 
consent  to  no  additional  imposition  of  duty,  by  way  of 
bounty  to  one  description  of  persons,  at  the  expense  of 
another,  equally  meritorious.  I  deplore  most  sincerely 
the  situation  into  which  the  unprecedented  state  of  the 
world  has  thrown  the  merchant.  A  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  has  said,  they  feel  all  the  sensibility  for 
the  mercantile  interest,  which  we  feel  for  a  certain 
species  of  property  in  the  Southern  States.  This  appeal 
is  understood,  and  I  well  remember,  that  some  of  their 
representatives  were  among  the  first  who  felt  for  our 
distressing  situation,  while  discussing  the  bill  to  pro- 
hibit the  importation  of  slaves.  I  feel  all  the  sympathy 
for  that  interest  now,  which  was  felt  for  us  then;  but  I 

77 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

ask  if  it  is  not  sound  policy  to  encourage  the  patriotism 
of  our  merchants  to  support  still  longer  the  sacrifices, 
which  the  public  exigencies  call  for,  with  spirit  and  reso- 
lution? If  they  should  suffer  most  from  our  present 
situation,  it  is  for  their  immediate  advantage  that  we 
are  contending.  I  must  be  allowed  in  continuation  to 
say,  that  although  I  do  not  profess  to  be  one  of  the 
exclusive  protectors  of  commerce,  I  am  as  willing  to 
defend  certain  rights  of  the  merchant,  as  the  rights  of 
the  planter.  Thus  far  I  will  go :  I  will  assist  in  directing 
the  physical  strength  of  the  nation  to  the  protection  of 
that  commerce  which  properly  grows  out  of  the  produce 
of  the  soil;  but  no  further.  Nor  am  I  therefore  dis- 
posed to  limit  the  field  of  his  enterprise.  Go  up  to 
Mocha,  through  the  Dardanelles,  into  the  South  Seas. 
Search  for  gums,  skins,  and  gold,  where  and  when  you 
please;  but  take  care,  it  shall  be  at  your  own  risk.  If 
you  get  into  broils  and  quarrels,  do  not  call  upon  me, 
to  leave  my  plough  in  the  fields,  where  I  am  toiling  for 
the  bread  my  children  must  eat,  or  starve,  to  fight 
your  battles. 

"It  has  been  generally  circulated  throughout  the 
Eastern  States,  in  extracts  of  letters,  said  to  be  from 
members  of  Congress  (and  which  I  am  certainly  sorry 
for,  because  it  has  excited  jealousies,  which  I  wish  to 
see  allayed),  that  the  Southern  States  are  inimical  to 
commerce.  So  far  as  South  Carolina  is  concerned  in 
the  general  implication,  I  do  pronounce  this  a  gross 
slander,  an  abominable  falsehood,  be  the  authors  whom 
they  may.  The  state  of  South  Carolina  is  now  making 
a  most  magnanimous  sacrifice  for  commercial  rights. 
Will  gentlemen  be  surprised  when  I  tell  them,  South 
Carolina  is  interested,  by  the  suspension  of  our  trade, 

78 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

in  the  article  of  cotton  alone,  to  an  amount  greater 
than  the  whole  revenue  of  the  United  States?  We  do 
make  a  sacrifice,  sir;  I  wish  it  could  be  consummated. 
I  should  rejoice  to  see  this  day  all  our  surplus  cotton, 
rice,  flour  and  tobacco  burnt.  Much  better  would  it  be 
to  destroy  it  ourselves  than  to  pay  a  tribute  to  any  for- 
eign power.  Such  a  national  offering,  caused  by  the 
cupidity  and  oppression  of  Great  Britain,  would  con- 
vince her,  she  could  not  humble  the  spirit  of  freemen. 
From  the  nature  of  her  products,  the  people  of  South 
Carolina  can  have  no  interest  unconnected  and  at 
variance  with  commerce.  They  feel  for  the  pressure  of 
Boston,  as  much  as  for  that  on  Charleston,  and  they 
have  given  proofs  of  that  feeling.  Upon  a  mere  calcula- 
tion of  dollars  and  cents — I  do  from  my  soul  abhor 
such  a  calculation  where  national  rights  are  concerned 
— if  South  Carolina  could  thus  stoop  to  calculate,  she 
would  see  that  she  has  no  interest  in  this  question — 
upon  a  calculation  of  dollars  and  cents,  which  I  repeat, 
I  protest  against,  it  is  perfectly  immaterial  to  her 
whether  her  cotton,  rice,  and  tobacco  go  to  Europe  in 
English  or  American  vessels.  No,  sir,  she  spurned  a 
system  which  would  export  her  produce  at  the  expense 
of  the  American  merchant,  who  ought  to  be  her  carrier. 
When  a  motion  was  made  last  winter  for  that  kind  of 
embargo,  which  the  gentleman  from  Maryland  (Mr. 
Key)  was  in  favor  of;  for  he  says  he  gave  his  advice  to 
do  that  very  thing,  which  if  adopted  would  cut  up  the 
navigation  interest  most  completely  (an  embargo  on 
our  ships  and  vessels  only) ;  South  Carolina  could  have 
put  money  in  her  pocket  (another  favorite  idea  with  the 
gentleman)  by  selling  her  produce  to  foreigners  at 
enormous  prices;  her  representatives  here  unanimously 

79 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

voted  against  the  proposition ;  and  her  legislature,  with 
a  magnanimity  I  wish  to  see  imitated  throughout  the 
United  States,  applauded  that  vote — they  too  said 
that  they  would  unanimously  support  the  embargo,  at 
the  expense  of  their  lives  and  fortunes.  She  did  not 
want  an  embargo  on  our  ships,  and  not  on  produce. 
No,  sir;  she  knows  we  are  linked  together  by  one  com- 
mon chain — break  it  where  you  will,  it  dissolves  the  tie 
of  union.  She  feels,  sir,  a  stroke  inflicted  on  Massachu- 
setts, with  the  same  spirit  of  resistance  that  she  would 
one  on  Georgia.  The  legislature,  the  representatives 
of  a  people  with  whom  the  love  of  country  is  indigenous, 
told  you  unanimously  that  they  would  support  the 
measures  of  the  general  government.  Thank  God  that 
I  am  the  representative  of  such  a  state,  and  that  its 
representatives  would  not  accept  of  a  commerce,  even 
at  the  advice  of  the  gentleman  from  Maryland,  which 
would  profit  themselves  at  the  expense  of  their  eastern 
brethren.  Feeling  these  sentiments,  I  cannot  but  say, 
in  contradiction  to  what  fell  from  the  gentleman  from 
Virginia  (Mr.  Gholson)  I  should  deplore  that  state  of 
things  which  offers  the  merchant  the  lamentable  alter- 
native, beggary  or  the  plough.  I  would  say  to  the 
merchant,  in  the  sincerity  of  my  heart,  bear  this  pressure 
with  manly  fortitude,  if  the  embargo  fails  of  expected 
benefit,  we  will  avenge  your  cause.  I  do  say  so,  and 
believe  the  nation  will  maintain  the  assertion." 

Near  the  close  of  this  address  Mr.  Williams  alluded 
to  the  substance  of  which  was  said  by  another  speaker, 
that  "nations  like  individuals  should  pocket  their 
honor  for  money,"  and  said,  "Sir,  if  my  tongue  was  in 
the  thunder's  mouth,  then  with  a  passion  would  I  shake 
the  world  and  cry  out,  'Treason!'"     He  was  known  in 

80 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Congress  as  "Thunder  and  Lightning  Williams,"  and 
one  may  see  how  Mr.  Williams,  if  he  raised  his  voice 
to  suit  the  words,  both  earned  his  designation  and  gave 
some  ground  for  the  federalist  compliment  that  he  was 
somewhat  theatrical. 

It  happened  that  the  prim  professor,  Edward 
Hooker,*  who  had  witnessed  the  congressional  race  in 
Greenville  in  1807,  stopped  on  his  journey  homeward,  a 
few  days  in  Washington  and  heard  the  speech  just 
quoted  and  thus  commented  on  it:  "Mr.  D.  R.  Wil- 
liams of  South  Carolina  made  a  long  harangue  of  two 
hours  upon  it — justifying  the  imposition  and  continu- 
ance of  the  embargo.  He  recurred  much  to  his  notes, 
hesitated  some,  drank  water  freely.  Began  some  sonor- 
ous and  musical  sentences  which  did  not  close  equally 
well.  Began  some  so  long  as  to  lose  the  connection  of 
words  and  make  bad  grammar,  but  nevertheless  had  a 
pretty  eloquent  speech  and  highly  figurative  language, 
expressed  very  fair,  liberal,  national,  harmonious  sen- 
tences, expressed  himself  in  many  instances  in  very 
strong  and  emphatic  language,  and  was  by  many  people 
much  complimented  and  much  admired.  I  think  though 
he  was  hardly  logical  enough  and  rather  too  ungram- 
matical  and  incorrect  to  pass  for  a  complete  scholar. 
For  'effect  an  insurance,'  he  said,  'infect  an  insurance,' 
and  committed  a  few  other  errors." 

At  a  subsequent  day,  the  observant  pedagogue  dined 
with  a  bunch  of  these  Solons  and  over  a  dinner  com- 
posed of  "goose,  duck,  chicken  pie,  boiled  corn  beef, 
roast  fresh  beef,  hominy  made  of  dry  corn  and  beans 
boiled  whole,  sweet  and  Irish  potatoes,  custards,  roast 

*Hooker  was  "prone  to  overestimate  the  importance  of  the  minutiae  of  pronunciation 
excessively  interested  in  rhetoric  and  gesture." — J.  Franklin  Jameson. 

81 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

apples,  crackers  and  butter  with  cheese,  preserves  and 
cyder,"  they  discussed  the  late  speeches.  Representa- 
tive Blount  of  North  Carolina  put  a  higher  estimate  on 
Mr.  Williams'  speech  and  styled  it  "transcendently 
elegant." 

Mr.  Jefferson's  second  term  ended  in  this  last  session 
of  the  Tenth  Congress.  C.  C.  Pinckney  of  South 
Carolina  was  the  Federalist  candidate  and  received 
only  forty-seven  votes  to  Madison's  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two.  It  is  a  remarkable  showing  in  view  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  pacific  policy,  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  com- 
mercial interests  and  the  general  depression  everywhere. 
The  salient  feature  of  Jefferson's  administration  struck 
the  average  man — its  economy  and  the  large  cash  sur- 
plus always  in  the  treasury  after  interest  and  several 
millions  were  paid  on  the  indebtedness.  In  his  last 
annual  message  he  reported  that  more  than  eight  mil- 
lions would  be  in  the  treasury  at  the  end  of  the  year.  In 
this  and  the  six  and  a  half  years  previous  he  had  ex- 
tinguished $33,580,000  of  the  principal  of  the  federal 
debt,  the  whole  of  that  which  could  be  paid  within  the 
limits  of  the  law.  The  government  was  just  twenty 
years  old.  Honesty  and  economy  in  a  government 
conducted  with  average  ability  are  rare  virtues,  in  this 
day  when  the  cost  of  the  general,  state,  county,  and  city 
governments  amounts  to  $2,500,000,000  annually. 

Mr.  Williams  retired  for  a  season  also  from  the  din 
of  the  forum  and  immersed  himself  in  the  neglected 
plantation  duties,  but  not  so  thoroughly  that  he  was 
invulnerable  to  Cupid's  shafts. 


82 


CHAPTER  X 

IN   THE   TWELFTH    CONGRESS 

THE  Tenth  Congress  adjourned  on  March  3, 
1809,  and  the  Eleventh  convened  May  22d,  fol- 
lowing. Mr.  Williams  was  succeeded  by  Rob- 
ert Witherspoon  whose  sister  Elizabeth  he  married 
in  November  following.  (Ames.)  The  Eleventh  Con- 
gress worked  hard  but  it  did  not  accomplish  much  in  its 
three  sessions.  E.  S.  Thomas,  editor  of  the  Carolina 
Gazette,  tells  in  his  Reminiscences  this  defective  story : 

"I  made  the  best  use  of  the  Gazette  to  turn  out  every 
member  of  the  Tenth  Congress,  with  what  success  the 
reader  will  judge  when  told  that  eight  out  of  nine  were 
obliged  to  give  place  to  other  men.  The  ninth  barely 
escaped  and  good  humoredly  remarked  that  if  Thomas' 
lever,  as  the  country  people  called  the  Gazette,  could 
have  had  a  little  more  purchase,  he  should  have  gone 
with  the  rest.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Williams, 
Lowndes,  Calhoun,  and  Cheves  were  first  elected  to 
Congress,  forming  with  their  colleagues  such  a  constel- 
lation of  talent  as  seldom  meet  from  one  state  in  that 
body." 

His  judgment  on  the  "constellation  of  talent"  was 
true  to  the  evidence.  What  other  state  can  point  to 
such  a  galaxy  of  great  and  patriotic  men?  Henry  Clay 
was  elected  speaker  of  this  Twelfth  Congress  and  down 

83 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

to  his  old  age  looked  back  to  it  as  the  most  remarkable 
of  all  for  the  talent  found  in  it.  It  was  the  Eleventh 
Congress,  and  instead  of  eight  out  of  nine  being  left 
at  home,  there  were  only  eight  members,  three  of  whom 
succeeded  themselves;  a  fourth,  John  Taylor,  went 
back  to  represent  South  Carolina  in  the  Senate.  Rob- 
ert Witherspoon  declined  to  be  a  candidate,  and  having 
retired  from  public  life,  gave  the  benefit  of  his  influence 
to  his  brother-in-law,  D.  R.  Williams.  The  Gazette 
may  have  influenced  voters  near  Charleston,  but  it  is 
not  probable  that  the  defeat  of  Alston  by  his  opponent, 
Elias  Earle,  in  Greenville,  or  the  conspicuous  success 
of  John  C.  Calhoun  in  Abbeville  District  was  decisively 
affected  by  a  weekly  newspaper  with  less  than  fifteen 
hundred  subscribers.  Mrs.  St.  Julian  Ravenel,  in  her 
"William  Lowndes'  Life,"  says  "Calhoun  and  Lowndes 
were  nine  and  twenty,  born  within  a  month  of  each 
other;  Cheves  about  five  years  older.  There  was  also 
David  R.  Williams,  a  man  of  much  force  and  integrity, 
who  had  wisely  endeavored  to  rouse  the  spirit  of  the 
inert  Eleventh  Congress.  The  desire  of  all  these  men 
to  awaken  the  patriotism  of  the  country  and  achieve 
for  her  a  place  among  the  nations  without  regard  to 
political  party."  Mr.  Williams  who  was  in  the  Ninth 
and  Tenth  Congresses,  but  not  in  the  Eleventh,  as  is 
assumed  in  the  quotation,  was  about  six  years  older 
than  Calhoun  and  about  one  year  older  than  Cheves. 

The  Annals  of  the  Twelfth  Congress  have  had  the 
honor  of  being  read  as  a  source  of  instruction  and  in- 
spiration by  students  of  our  history.  Great  and  pa- 
triotic men  in  the  majority  and  in  the  minority  enriched 
the  records  with  thoughts  that  still  breathe  and  stir  in 
the  hearts  of  men.     Mr.  Calhoun  was  made  or  became 

84 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations. 
Mr.  Cheves  was  chairman  of  the  Naval  Committee  and 
Mr.  Williams  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Mili- 
tary Affairs.  South  Carolina,  in  the  persons  of  her 
representatives,  was  in  the  front  of  the  fray,  pointing 
to  the  necessity  for  war  and  of  a  preparation  for  it. 
Mr.  Williams  still  thought  it  a  waste  of  money  to  build 
a  navy  of  a  few  ships  to  be  pitted  against  Great  Brit- 
ain's fifteen  hundred.  He  was  still  for  the  embargo 
or  for  war;  for  as  he  saw  the  situation,  it  was  that  or 
submission.  His  first  great  speech  was  delivered  in 
reply  to  Mr.  Sheffey  of  Virginia,  who  opposed  the  rais- 
ing of  an  additional  militia  force.  It  was  an  effort 
which  elicited  high  commendation.  "No  man  can 
conceive,"  said  a  reporter  of  the  Baltimore  Democratic 
American,  "the  impressive  manner  in  which  it  was  de- 
livered, nor  the  Roman  energy  and  overwhelming  ve- 
hemence of  the  speaker's  elocution.  You  have  heard 
Cooper.  The  voice  of  Mr.  Williams  is  more  vigorous, 
more  powerful,  more  commanding  than  that  of  the 
celebrated  tragedian."     (Quoted  from  Ames.) 

The  Richmond  Enquirer  commented  very  happily, 
too:  "The  speech  of  Mr.  Williams  in  reply  to  Mr. 
Sheffey  is  worthy  of  general  perusal.  It  breathes  the 
fire  of  an  American,  the  indignation  of  a  patriot,  at  the 
wrongs  inflicted  on  his  innocent  country.  You  see  at 
once  that  a  warm  and  generous  blood  flows  in  his  veins 
— how  different  from  the  cold  and  calculating  politician 
to  whom  he  replies.  How  highly  is  South  Carolina  gifted 
in  the  present  Congress,  Calhoun,  Cheves,  Lowndes, 
Williams.     What  a  splendid  constellation  of  talents." 

On  the  25th  he  inaugurated  another  contest  of  wits 
by  giving  notice  that  at  the  first  opportunity  he  would 

85 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

call  up  the  bill  for  classifying  and  arming  militia.  Three 
days  later  the  House  resolved  itself  into  a  Committee  of 
the  Whole,  on  the  bill  supplementary  to  "an  act  more 
effectually  to  provide  for  the  national  defence  by  estab- 
lishing a  uniform  militia  throughout  the  United  States ; 
and  also  an  act  making  provision  for  arming  and  equip- 
ping the  whole  body  of  militia  of  the  United  States." 
The  proposed  bill  which  came  through  Chairman  Wil- 
liams divided  the  militia  into  three  classes,  the  Minor, 
Junior,  and  Senior.  The  Junior,  consisting  of  such 
persons  as  were  over  twenty-one  and  under  thirty-one 
years  of  age,  was  to  be  subject  to  the  general  govern- 
ment for  a  term  not  longer  than  twelve  months  at  a 
time.  Each  member  of  all  classes  was  to  receive  a  stand 
of  arms,  the  right  to  which  was  to  be  inalienably  in- 
vested in  him.  Four  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  to  be 
appropriated  annually  for  the  purchase  of  arms.  The 
bill  became  at  once  a  target  to  be  shot  at  from  many 
directions.  But  "Mr.  Williams  supported  his  bill  with 
an  ardency  which  did  him  credit  for  his  perseverance," 
and  with  others  pressed  to  the  point  where  it  was  en- 
grossed for  a  third  reading. 

Motions  to  eliminate  a  section,  to  amend  it,  to  re- 
commit it,  to  postpone  consideration  for  a  stated  time 
or  indefinitely,  were  made  and  generally  voted  down; 
but  the  appropriation  was  cut  in  half.  Some  of  the 
opposition  were  in  favor  of  arming  and  classifying  the 
militia  but  disliked  one  or  more  features  of  the  bill.  It 
was  defeated  by  three  votes,  seven  members  favoring  it 
being  absent.  Numerous  minor  objections  were  urged, 
but  the  two  telling  ones  were  the  objection  to  the 
phrase,  "militia  of  the  United  States,"  since  the  militia 
belonged  to  the  several  states;  and  the  other  that  the 

86 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

power  to  distribute  and  preserve  the  arms  must  be 
lodged  in  the  legislatures  of  the  states.  These  changes 
were  added  before  it  became  a  law,  but  they  were  not 
recommended  by  the  Military  Committee,  because  it 
was  desired  that  the  militia  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States  should  be  freed  from  state  regulations.  Mr. 
Williams  got  formal  leave  of  absence  before  the  bill 
became  law,  but  another  bill  authorizing  a  detachment 
of  100,000  militia  was  passed  under  his  leadership,  be- 
fore he  returned  home,  where  in  January  his  barn  with 
five  thousand  bushels  of  corn  and  thirty-five  bales  of 
cotton  had  been  burnt.  His  leave  of  absence  extended 
the  remainder  of  the  session,  but  in  one  month  he  was 
back  at  his  post. 

On  May  the  13th  Mr.  Williams  made  a  motion  for 
which  he  found  no  precedent  nor  any  crisis  like  the 
present  one  to  require  it.  "Resolved,  that  the  Speaker 
be  directed  to  address  a  letter  to  each  member  of  the 
House  now  absent,  requesting  his  attendance  prior  to 
the  first  day  in  June."  The  purpose  of  the  resolution 
and  the  speech  to  support  it  is  set  forth  by  the  reporter 
of  the  Carolina  Gazette,  who  considered  it  "of  great  im- 
portance": "The  object  of  the  resolution  was  to  in- 
dicate to  the  merchants,  by  way  of  invitation  to  absent 
members,  to  return  at  a  particular  day,  that  there  was 
a  settled  determination  in  Congress  to  make  war  on 
Great  Britain  shortly  after  the  first  of  June.  The  fail- 
ure of  the  embargo  to  convince  the  mercantile  part  of 
the  community  of  this  settled  determination,  some  addi- 
tional admonition  was  extremely  necessary;  and  it  is 
to  be  hoped  this  resolution  of  Mr.  Williams  will  answer 
the  purpose.  There  is  another  view  of  the  subject. 
This  notice  to  the  absentees  must  be  considered  not 

87 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

only  honorable  but  justified  by  the  thinness  of  the  House, 
and  being  given  timely,  throws  the  responsibility  on  the 
absentees.  All  pretexts  of  objection  to  a  declaration  of 
war  being  sectional  (most  of  the  eastern  men  being 
absent)  are  by  this  course  destroyed.  On  so  great  a 
question  as  will  be  decided  in  June,  it  is  very  desirable 
there  should  be  as  full  a  house  as  possible.  If  it  shall 
not  be  so,  it  will  neither  be  owing  to  a  want  of  exertion 
on  the  part  of  the  majority  nor  to  the  absence  of  a  unani- 
mous and  clear  indication  of  their  intentions  to  the 
minority." 

The  Twelfth  Congress  was  now  on  the  verge  of  de- 
claring war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Brit- 
ain ;  and  some  of  the  minority  complained  of  the  undue 
haste  with  which  the  majority  was  leading  to  hostilities. 
Mr.  Williams  felt  the  force  of  the  appeal.  On  a  former 
occasion  when  some  petition  was  being  read,  too  late 
to  accomplish  anything,  a  point  of  order  was  raised; 
but  Mr.  Williams  wanted  to  allow  the  petition  to  be 
finished,  and  added,  "Before  God,  let's  stand  con- 
victed if  we  haven't  talent  enough  to  refute  it."  Now 
he  says  to  the  majority:  "The  deportment  on  the 
other  side  of  the  House  had,  during  the  whole  of  the 
session,  been  very  gentlemanly  toward  the  majority; 
and,  sir,"  said  he,  "will  you  now  refuse  to  give  them  an 
opportunity  to  express  their  sentiments  upon  a  meas- 
ure which,  in  their  view,  is  important?  Policy  on 
the  part  of  the  majority  ought  to  dictate  the  indulgence 
asked  for.  The  majority  now  stands  on  high  ground," 
etc.  But  his  plea  was  heard  and  unheeded.  "An  act 
laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports 
and  harbors  of  the  United  States  for  a  limited  time" 
was  passed  as  a  preliminary  to  a  declaration  of  war, 

88 


DAVID  ROGERSONfiWILLIAMS 

which  was  formally  declared  by  proclamation  of  the 
President  on  June  18,  1812. 

The  first  session  of  the  Twelfth  Congress  adjourned 
on  July  6th  and  Colonel  Williams  returned  to  Society 
Hill.  The  opposite  faction  at  home,  still  known  as  the 
Federalists,  did  not  look  so  kindly  on  the  able  repre- 
sentatives in  Congress.  The  reporter  of  the  Courier 
said  in  the  midst  of  the  exciting  session,  "If  the  good 
people  of  South  Carolina  do  not  shortly  request  your 
Cheves,  Williams,  and  Lowndes,  notwithstanding  their 
abilities,  to  stay  at  home,  as  soon  as  they  constitution- 
ally can,  they  will  deserve  the  evils  they  must  suffer.' ' 
In  reference  to  Mr.  Williams  he  said:  "It  is  somewhat 
surprising  that  such  men  as  Williams  should  so  much 
dread  the  naval  power  of  England,  yet  go  to  Canada 
and  thus  most  certainly  provoke  the  exercise  of  that 
power  on  our  defenceless  maritime  towns,  New  York, 
Norfolk,  or  Charleston.  However,  I  don't  absolutely 
censure  Mr.  Williams;  perhaps  he  is  unable  to  discern 
the  inconsistencies  of  his  own  conduct.  No  man  is 
culpable  for  the  honest  exercise  of  merely  such  powers 
as  heaven  has  given.  And  excepting  the  magnitude  of 
his  voice,  I  never  could  discover  anything  great  about 
him." 

But  the  people  did  not  agree  with  the  critic.  They 
were  with  their  representatives.  The  toasts  on  the 
Fourth  of  July  were  such  as  these:  "  Our  representatives 
in  Congress :  We  have  read  and  admired  the  magnanim- 
ity of  their  sentiments  in  forensic  debate.  They  have 
the  plaudits  of  their  country."  "The  members  of 
Congress  from  South  Carolina:  A  Spartan  band,  firm 
and  indissoluble.  While  they  add  weight  to  the  na- 
tion's councils,  they  shed  lustre  on  our  individual  state." 

89 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

In  the  second  session,  Chairman  Williams'  bill  "con- 
cerning the  pay  of  the  army  of  the  United  States"  was 
read  on  the  20th  of  November,  was  supported  by  ex- 
planations with  the  hope  that  its  discussion  would  not 
involve  the  justice  or  necessity  of  the  war.  "War  is 
now  declared;  we  have  thrown  ourselves  between  our 
country  and  the  enemy;  and  it  becomes  us  to  carry 
her  triumphantly  through  the  war  or  be  responsible 
for  the  disgrace  a  contrary  course  would  incur."  The 
reason  for  raising  the  monthly  pay  of  the  soldier,  the 
aggregate  amount  of  which  would  be  about  one  million 
dollars,  having  been  given,  he  thought  the  remaining 
sections  would  speak  for  themselves.  Mr.  Stow  of  New 
York  followed  in  reply  and  Colonel  Williams  in  turn 
said  among  other  things:  "The  enemy  are  on  your 
western,  your  northern,  your  southern,  and  your  east- 
ern frontier — God  only  knows  where  they  are  not.  He 
(I)  was  warranted  in  advocating  the  section  upon  the 
great  principle  of  national  necessity  and  usefulness. 
In  all  great  crises,  individual  benefit  ought  not  to  pre- 
ponderate against  the  public  good.  Militia  services 
are  transient;  ought  not  to  be  solely  depended  on,  and 
as  they  are  released  in  that  proportion  ought  your  regu- 
lar forces  to  be  increased.  .  .  .  The  gentleman's 
ideas  of  patriotism  are  equally  novel  and  mistaken;  he 
contends  that  individuals  enter  military  service  of  their 
country  with  precisely  the  same  object  that  they  be- 
come smiths — emolument.  He  had  always  considered 
that  patriotism  was  to  be  found  in  sacrifice  of  individual 
advantages  to  the  public  weal,  and  not,  as  is  fairly  to 
be  inferred  from  the  gentleman,  in  drawing  individual 
emolument  from  the  public  coffers.  No,  sir,  patriotism 
is  not  to  be  purchased,  it  flows  from  the  heart;  it  is 

90 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

based  on  noble  principles,  and  although  soldiers  are 
paid  for  their  services  the  great  stimulus  which  carried 
them  into  the  field  is  that  love  of  country  which  is 
inseparable  from  the  real  patriot." 

Mr.  Quincy  of  Massachusetts  spoke  of  the  principle 
involved  in  reference  to  enlisting  minors  as  being 
"atrocious"  and  closed  with  what  he  did  not  mean  to 
be  a  threat:  "Pass  it,  and  if  the  legislatures  of  the  in- 
jured states  do  not  come  down  upon  your  recruiting 
officers  with  the  old  laws  against  kidnapping  and  man- 
stealing,  they  are  false  to  themselves,  their  posterity, 
and  their  country." 

Mr.  Williams  found  it  impossible  to  keep  down  the 
feelings  of  indignation  which  arose  in  his  breast ;  but  he 
would  speak  with  due  respect  to  the  orders  of  the  House 
and  not  infringe  its  privileges.  He  wished  he  "had  not 
occasion  to  speak;  but,  sir,  it  is  my  misfortune  to  be 
chairman  of  the  Military  Committee,  more  by  your 
partiality  than  by  any  merit  of  mine.  I  am  compelled 
to  rise.  I  have  been  stigmatized  by  the  gentleman  as 
the  introducer  into  this  House  of  an  atrocious  principle. 
If  such  language  comports  with  our  rules  of  order,  I 
must  submit,  seeing  it  is  uttered  where  it  is  protected; 
but,  sir,  I  must  pronounce  it  a  libel  on  myself,  and 
throw  it  back  on  him  who  uttered  it,  as  a  foul,  atrocious 
libel  on  the  committee.  Sir,  I  came  here  not  disposed 
to  use  such  language;  nothing  but  extreme  injury  should 
extort  it  from  me.  I  wish  that  the  gentleman  had  kept 
the  resolve  he  informed  he  had  formed ;  as  he  could  not 
do  so  I  would  that  he  had  been  good  enough  to  spare  me 
from  the  acrimony  of  his  remarks.  Atrocity!  The 
advocate  of  an  atrocious  principle!  Let  the  gentleman 
recur  to  those  who  originated  the  principle;  let  him  go 

91 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

back  to  the  day  of  the  Revolution  and  damn  the  mem- 
ory of  the  patriots  of  those  times,  the  fruit  of  whose 
labors  he  so  ill  deserves  to  enjoy.  .  .  .  The  gen- 
tleman from  Massachusetts  admits  a  necessity  may 
exist  to  justify  the  course  proposed  by  the  bill.  Well, 
sir,  was  there  ever  a  crisis  calling  on  our  people  for 
vigorous  exertions,  more  awful  than  that  which  impends 
over  us  now?  Now  when  a  vile  spirit  of  party  has 
gone  abroad  and  distracted  the  Union?  Now  that  the 
state  which  the  gentleman  represents  is  almost  in  arms 
against  us?  And  in  such  a  state  of  things  are  we  to  be 
told  that  we  are  espousing  an  atrocious  principle,  be- 
cause we  are  seeking  for  the  means  to  defend  our  coun- 
try? The  will  of  the  President  is  the  law  of  the  land, 
says  the  gentleman.  How  can  he  expect  his  arguments 
to  be  attended  to,  when  the  first  word  he  utters  after 
taking  his  seat  is  to  insult  and  abuse  every  one  opposed 
to  him  in  opinion?  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Speaker,  I 
ask  that  of  the  House  for  the  language  I  am  compelled 
to  use;  but  so  long  as  I  am  a  man,  so  help  me  God,  when 
I  am  told  I  am  actuated  by  an  atrocious  principle,  I 
will  throw  it  back  in  the  teeth  of  the  assertor  as  an  atro- 
cious falsehood.  .  .  .  We  ask  not  for  the  sustain- 
ment  of  an  atrocious  principle  or  for  the  adoption  of  an 
immoral  law,  but  for  the  means  to  support  a  just  war 
until  we  can  obtain  an  honorable  peace — as  much  for  the 
convenience  and  real  benefit  of  that  gentleman  and  his 
friends  as  of  any  in  the  House.  .  .  .  Let  Massa- 
chusetts, as  the  gentleman  has  threatened,  resist  the 
law;  I  thank  God  there  is  yet  no  point  of  contact  be- 
tween us,  but  if  she  shall,  contrary  to  our  mutual  inter- 
ests, array  herself  against  the  general  government,  I 
for  one  shall  not  hesitate  to  search  for  the  proof  that  she 

92 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

is  only  a  component  part  of  the  Union — not  its  ar- 
bitress." 

John  Randolph  characterized  Mr.  Quincy's  speech 
as  having  "more  of  eloquence  than  temperance"  and 
as  being  "answered  in  a  style  not  dissimilar  by  'my 
worthy  friend  on  the  left'  (Mr.  Williams).  They  both 
reminded  him  of  a  stroke  of  perhaps  the  only  comic 
poet  this  country  has  produced : 

"The  more  they  injured  their  side, 
The  more  argument  they  applied." 

Mr.  Randolph  called  attention  to  the  similarity  of 
position  occupied  by  Virginia  and  Kentucky  in  1798 
and  1799,  when  those  states  would  not  be  "dragooned 
into  measures  of  the  Adams  administration,"  and  the 
good  sense  and  patriotism  of  the  American  people  rati- 
fied what  they  did. 

Mr.  Williams  stood  reproved  but  not  corrected  by  his 
friend  from  Virginia.  "With  respect  to  dragooning 
Massachusetts,  I  feel  no  more  disposition  to  do  it  than 
that  gentleman;  I  believe  he  would  shrink  with  as  much 
intrinsic  abhorrence  from  measures  openly  advocated 
in  that  country  as  I  would.  Her  leaders  dare  not  tell 
the  people  that  they  refused  to  grant  their  physical 
force  to  support  the  country's  independence  to  save  it 
from  British  domination.  The  gentleman  from  Massa- 
chusetts did  not  say  so.  They  writhe  under  the  lash 
but  dare  not  defend  their  conduct.  There  is  no  point 
of  contact  between  her  and  the  Union — God  forbid 
there  should  be! — but  if  there  should  be,  I  would  be 
one  to  teach  her  her  duty.  .  .  .  Yes,  sir,  I  do  hope 
that  the  authority  of  the  Union  and  of  that  state  may 
never  come  in  contact,  that  we  may  not  be  under  the 

93 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

necessity  of  putting  down  the  desperate  measures  of 
that  state.  Sir,  when  we  are  insulted,  when  we  are 
*  dragooned'  for  endeavoring  to  put  our  country  in  the 
armor  the  times  call  for,  when  an  attempt  is  made  to 
deprive  us  of  the  means  of  defense,  I,  for  one,  will  not 
refrain  from  expressing  my  sentiments  of  such  conduct 
and  of  the  remedy  for  it."  The  bill  passed,  yeas  64, 
nays  37. 

The  House  again  resolved  itself  into  a  Committee  of 
the  Whole  on  the  bill  "supplementary  to  the  act  for  the 
more  perfect  organization  of  the  army"  and  on  the  bill 
"in  addition  to  the  act  of  raising  an  additional  force." 
As  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee,  Mr.  Williams 
brought  up  the  matter  by  motion  for  consideration. 
He  felt  embarrassed  because  of  the  importance  of  the 
subject  and  a  fear  that  its  success  might  in  a  measure 
depend  upon  him.  He  was  no  doubt  outlining  the  ad- 
ministration's plan  of  action  in  this  excerpt:  "To  effect 
the  first  great  object,  defence  of  the  exposed  parts,  it 
struck  him  as  of  primary  importance,  that  the  whole 
jurisdictional  limits  of  the  United  States  should  be 
divided  into  military  districts,  that  the  command  of 
each  should  be  intrusted  to  an  intelligent  officer  who 
should  have  under  his  command  certain  portions  of 
artillery  and  infantry  of  the  regular  army;  that  in  each 
district  there  should  be  a  sufficient  number  of  cannon 
mounted  on  travelling  carriages,  etc.,  and  an  engineer 
to  devise  the  plans,  and  superintend  the  erection  of  such 
works  of  defence  as  may  be  necessary,"  etc. 

Josiah  Quincy  of  Massachusetts,  while  laboring  under 
physical  weakness,  made  the  speech  of  the  session  in 
opposition  to  the  administration  and  of  the  war.  Some 
of  the  closing  paragraphs  show  how  latent  fires  of  jeal- 

94 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

ousy  were  slumbering  under  the  political  ashes:  "Tak- 
ing the  years  for  which  the  Presidential  chair  is  already 
filled,  into  the  account,  out  of  twenty-eight  years  since 
our  constitution  was  established,  the  single  state  of 
Virginia  has  furnished  the  President  for  twenty-four 
years.  And  further,  it  is  now  as  distinctly  known,  and 
familiarly  talked  about  in  this  city  and  vicinity,  who  is 
the  destined  successor  of  the  present  President,  after 
the  expiration  of  his  ensuing  term,  and  known,  too,  that 
he  is  a  Virginian,  as  it  was  known  and  familiarly  talked 
about  during  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  that  the 
present  President  was  to  be  his  successor.  And  the 
former  was,  and  the  latter  is,  a  subject  of  as  much 
notoriety,  and  to  human  appearance,  of  as  much  cer- 
tainty, too,  as  who  will  be  the  successor  to  the  British 
crown  is  a  matter  of  notoriety  in  that  country.  To 
secure  the  succession  and  keep  it  in  the  destined  line 
has  been,  is  and  will  continue  to  be,  the  main  object  of 
the  policy  of  these  men.  This  is  the  point  on  which  the 
projects  of  the  cabinet  for  three  years  past  have  been 
brought  to  bear — that  James  the  First  (Madison) 
should  be  made  to  continue  four  years  longer.  And 
this  is  the  point  on  which  the  projects  of  the  cabinet 
will  be  brought  to  bear  for  three  years  to  come — that 
James  the  Second  (Monroe)  shall  be  made  to  succeed, 
according  to  the  fundamental  rescripts  of  the  Monticel- 
lian  dy nasty.' * 

Mr.  Quincy  was  called  to  order,  but  he  gradually 
worked  back  to  the  pain  in  his  heart:  "When  I  assert 
that  the  present  Secretary  of  State  (Monroe),  who  is 
now  the  acting  Secretary  of  War,  is  destined  by  a 
cabinet  of  which  he  himself  constitues  one-third,  for 
the  command  of  this  army,  I  know  that  I  assert  inten- 

95 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

tions  to  exist  which  have  not  yet  developed  themselves, 
by  an  official  avowal.  The  truth  is,  the  moment  for  an 
official  avowal  is  not  yet  come.  The  cabinet  must 
work  along  by  degrees  and  only  show  their  cards  as 
they  play  them.  The  army  must  first  be  authorized. 
The  bill  for  the  new  major-generals  must  be  passed. 
Then  upon  their  plan,  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  con- 
stitute a  Lieutenant-General.  'And  who  so  proper,' 
the  cabinet  will  exclaim,  'as  one  of  ourselves!'  And 
who  so  proper  as  one  of  the  cabinet?"  This  interest- 
ing speech  was  closed  with  a  crack  of  his  whip:  "If  in 
common  with  my  countrymen,  my  children  are  destined 
to  be  slaves,  and  to  yoke  in  with  negroes,  chained  to 
the  car  of  a  Southern  master,  they,  at  least,  shall  have 
this  sweet  consciousness  as  the  consolation  of  their  con- 
dition, they  shall  be  able  to  say:  'Our  fathers  were  guilt- 
less of  these  chains.'" 

On  January  14,  1813,  Mr.  Cheves  made  the  last  great 
speech  on  "Additional  Military  Force,"  and  at  its  close 
it  passed,  for  the  bill  77,  against  it  42.  In  the  opening 
sentence  Mr.  Cheves  states  that  he  had  entirely  aban- 
doned the  idea  of  speaking  on  the  subject,  "but  the 
sudden  and  unexpected  indisposition  of  this  moment  of 
my  worthy  friend  and  honorable  colleague  (Mr.  Wil- 
liams) the  chairman  of  the  Committee  with  whom  this 
bill  originated,  who  was  expected  to  close  the  debate, 
has  left  a  vacuum  in  the  argument  which  I  propose 
to  fill.  Could  he  have  addressed  you  as  he  was  pre- 
pared and  anxious,  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duty 
to  do,  it  would  have  rendered  the  feeble  attempt  which 
I  shall  make  as  unnecessary  as  it  would  have  been  im- 
pertinent and  obtrusive." 

The  last  bill  introduced  by  Chairman  Williams  was 

96 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  new  major  and 
brigadier-generals.  He  took  occasion  to  say  that  his 
illness  had  precluded  his  reply  to  Mr.  Quincy's  pre- 
diction. He  now  declared  that  no  such  intention  of 
appointing  a  Lieutenant-General  had  ever  existed  in 
the  minds  of  the  administration.  After  some  con- 
sideration it  was  agreed  to  appoint  six  Major-Generals 
and  six  Brigadier-Generals. 

In  his  last  term  in  Congress,  1812-1813,  Colonel  Wil- 
liams was  invited  to  dine  at  a  private  residence  in 
Washington.  Some  months  before  his  negro  slave, 
private  barber  at  the  Factory,  Alex,  had  disappeared. 
"The  Abolitionists  had  already  begun  to  operate  the 
underground  railroad,  of  late  fame.  The  street  door 
of  the  host  was  opened  to  the  Colonel  by  Alex!  The 
lawful  master  reclaimed  his  chattel,  without  the  least 
question  of  the  validity  of  his  ownership,  and  long  after- 
ward Alex  still  shaved  the  guests  at  the  Factory  in  the 
usually  contented  mind  of  his  race."     (J.  W.  DuBose.) 

Sources:  For  the  last  three  chapters,  the  Annals  of 
Congress,  Minutes  of  the  St.  David's  Society,  Bassett's 
United  States  History,  Thomas'  Reminiscences,  Life  of 
Lowndes  by  Mrs.  Ravenel,  the  Charleston  Courier  and 
the  Gazette,  The  Diary  of  Edward  Hooker,  who  came 
and  went  like  a  meteor,  saved  him  from  the  common 
oblivion  by  shedding  a  little  light  on  South  Carolina, 
1805-1808,  American  Historical  Association,  1896. 


97 


CHAPTER  XI 

HIS    MILITARY    SERVICES 

IN  COMMON  with  his  fellow-citizens,  Mr.  Williams 
on  the  days  fixed  by  law  took  his  place  in  a  militia 
company  and  in  the  course  of  time  found  it  the 
pleasure  of  his  comrades  to  promote  himself  to  the 
captaincy  of  the  Second  Battalion  of  the  Thirty-eighth 
Regiment.  His  regiment,  with  the  Thirty-seventh  of 
Marlboro  and  the  Thirty-ninth  of  Chesterfield,  made 
up  the  Ninth  Brigade,  commanded  by  Brigadier- 
General  Erasmus  Powe.  In  May,  1809,  Captain  Wil- 
liams spent  three  days,  with  other  officers,  acting  as  a 
court-martial  trying  certain  offenders  against  the  regu- 
lations. In  September  following  he  was  officially  noti- 
fied that  his  military  services  would  be  dispensed  with 
for  a  time,  in  order  that  his  congressional  duties  might 
not  be  interfered  with.  On  the  heels  of  this  notifica- 
tion came  another  missive  from  General  Powe : 

"Sir:  Since  your  absence  from  the  state  to  attend 
your  congressional  duties,  your  brother  officers  of  the 
38th  regiment  of  my  brigade,  by  their  unanimous  vote, 
have  called  you  to  the  command  of  the  said  regiment. 
Your  services  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  are  therefore  dis- 
pensed with  until  your  return,  after  Congress  shall  be 
adjourned,  to  take  command  of  your  regiment." 

Colonel  Williams  on  his  return  from  the  Thirteenth 

98 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Congress  did  not  offer  for  reelection.  His  successor, 
Theodore  Gourdin,  was  summoned  to  a  called  session 
in  May,  in  the  same  month  that  Colonel  Williams  was 
made  president  of  the  St.  David's  Society.  Had  he 
retired  from  political  life  for  a  season,  or  had  President 
Madison  given  a  hint  of  work  to  be  done  in  another 
department?  Earlier  than  the  date  of  the  subjoined 
letter,  June  26, 1813,  two  or  three  South  Carolinians  had 
been  promoted: 

"Having  accepted  a  commission  in  the  regular  army," 
General  Williams  wrote  to  General  Powe,  "I  hereby 
resign  to  you  the  command  which  I  had  the  honor  to 
hold  under  you,  as  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Commandant 
of  the  38th  regiment,  and  remain  with  every  possible 
regard,  your  most  obedient  fellow-soldier. 

"David  R.  Williams." 

President  Madison  honored  South  Carolina  by  giving 
her  one-sixth  of  the  generals  authorized  by  Congress. 
Thomas  Pinckney,  a  Federalist,  was  made  Major- 
General  and  assigned  to  the  Sixth  District.  The  state 
was  largely  democratic,  but  the  wisdom  of  the  appoint- 
ment was  fully  justified.  The  minority  and  the  major- 
ity worked  together  "as  two  feet,  two  hands,  two  eye- 
lids, upper  and  lower  rows  of  teeth,"  or  as  one  man  in 
the  common  defence,  and  showed  what  the  state's 
motto  meant,  "Animis  opibusque  parati."  General 
Williams  was  assigned  to  the  Northern  army.  His 
promotion  and  early  departure  became  the  subject  of 
toasts  at  the  Fourth  of  July  barbecues.  At  Springtown, 
one  was,  "The  enlightened  and  energetic  statesman, 
David  R.  Williams.  He  will  show  himself  the  hero  and 
the  general  in  the  day  of  battle."     Another  at  the 

99 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Washington  Rangers'  gathering  was,  "  May  he  prove  as 
much  a  soldier  as  he  has  a  statesman." 

A  few  weeks  subsequent  to  the  declaration  of  war 
there  was  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  in  Darlington  in 
which  James  Ervin,  Major  George  Bruce,  Cornelius 
Mandeville,  Major  William  Williams,  Moses  Sanders, 
Joseph  Cantey,  Albert  Fort,  Andrew  Hunter,  Benjamin 
Skinner,  John  Norwood,  Sr.,  William  Whilden,  John 
Huggins,  Jeremiah  Belk  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  draught  a  preamble  and  resolutions  approbatory  of 
the  declaration  of  war.  One  of  the  resolutions  adopted 
at  this  meeting  was,  "Resolved,  that  we  highly  approve 
of  the  firm  and  patriotic  conduct  of  the  Hon.  D.  R.  Wil- 
liams, our  Representative  in  Congress,  and  that  a  copy 
be  sent  to  our  delegation  in  Congress."  It  was  deliv- 
ered to  Colonel  Williams  on  his  arrival  in  Darlington, 
with  an  appropriate  speech  by  Lemuel  Benton  and 
responded  to  in  a  befitting  way  by  their  Representative. 
On  the  12th  of  July  the  Courier  gave  out  the  intelligence 
that  Brigadier-General  Williams  had  left  home  for  the 
Northern  frontier,  two  days  after  it  was  announced  in 
Washington  that  he  had  left  the  city  for  the  northwest- 
ern army,  and  his  progress  toward  Fort  George  as  his 
destination  was  announced  on  the  23d  by  the  Ontario 
Messenger.  The  scanty  knowledge  about  his  location 
and  work  as  an  army  officer  in  the  next  three  months  is 
gained  from  the  Annals  of  Congress: 

"War  Department 
"July  30,  1813. 
"Brigadier-General  Boyd. 

"Sir:  I  have  this  moment  received  information  that 
Fort  Meigs  is  again  attacked  and  by  a  considerable 

100 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

regular  force.  .  .  .  It  is  the  President's  wish  that 
you  should  communicate  fully  and  freely  with  Brigadier- 
General  Williams. 

"John  Armstrong." 

"Headquarters  Fort  George,  W.  C. 
"August  8,  1813. 
"Conceiving  myself  at  liberty  to  act  offensively  on 
the  arrival  of  the  fleet,  an  expedition  was  immediately 
concerted  against  the  enemy,  and  acceded  to  by  Com- 
modore Chauncey.  One  thousand  was  to  embark  on 
board  the  fleet,  under  command  of  Brigadier-General 
Williams,  to  land  at  the  head  of  the  lake.  The  army  at 
this  place  was  to  move  in  two  columns  against  the 
enemy's  front,  while  General  Williams  assailed  his  rear 
and  cut  off  his  retreat.  Yesterday  morning,  the  time 
when  the  troops  were  to  have  embarked,  the  enemy's 
fleet  were  discovered  off  this  place."  (Gen.  John  P. 
Boyd,  to  the  Secretary  of  War.) 

An  extract  from  a  letter  dated  August  29th  reads  as 
follows: 

"The  ittack  on  the  23d  inst.,  was  made  by  the  whole 
of  the  enemy's  force,  with  the  intention,  no  doubt, 
should  he  fail  in  an  attempt  upon  our  entrenchments 
to  draw  us  into  the  woods.  General  Williams,  with  a 
part  of  his  brigade,  advanced  some  distance  in  the  plain; 
but  it  was  considered  inexpedient  to  allow  him  to  pursue 
into  the  woods." 

"August  30,  1813. 

(Wilkinson  to  Armstrong)  "An  intelligencer  left 
Kingston  or  its  vicinity  last  evening  to  tell  me  that  Sir 

101 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

George  Prevost  had  commenced  operations  against 
Boyd  and  had  driven  in  his  pickets  and  taken  sixty  or 
seventy  prisoners,  but  had  been  repulsed  from  his  line 
of  encampment. " 

September  17. 

"In  consequence  of  encouragements  from  Gen.  Boyd 
that  a  general  and  decisive  movement  was  about  to  be 
made  by  the  army  and  that  an  additional  force  was 
desirable,  we  repaired  to  Fort  George  about  five  weeks 
ago,  with  500  men  consisting  of  volunteers,  militia,  and 
Indians.  Most  of  us  remained  there  twelve  or  fourteen 
days,  but  our  hopes  not  being  realized,  the  men  con- 
tinually dispersed  and  went  home;  not,  however,  with- 
out expectations,  again  encouraged  by  General  Boyd  and 
Williams,  that  we  should  be  called  on  again  to  aid  in 
operations."  (Peter  B.  Porter  and  others  to  General 
Wilkinson.) 

The  Camden  Journal  said  many  years  afterward  that 
General  Williams  served  with  General  Boyd  on  the 
Northern  frontier.  "His  services  there  were  of  the 
most  active  and  laborious  character  and  his  zeal  and 
gallantry  were  evincive  of  the  highest  chivalry.  But 
we  all  know  the  unfortunate  mode  in  which  some  of  our 
Northern  campaigns  were  conducted.  General  Wil- 
liams became  disgusted  and  requested  to  be  employed 
at  the  South."  General  Williams  reached  Washington 
on  the  29th  of  September  and,  according  to  the  National 
Intelligencer,  he  declared  that  he  found  on  his  arrival 
and  saw  among  the  regiments  during  his  continuance 
there  (with  Boyd)  "nothing  but  one  common  anxious 
desire  to  be  led  against  the  enemy." 

The  Carolina  Gazette  announced  in  the  middle  of 

102 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

November  (1813)  that  General  Williams  had  left 
Charleston  to  join  the  army  against  the  Creek  Indians, 
and  the  same  fact  was  reverberated  in  a  toast  at 
Dorchester:  "General  Williams  from  the  north  to  the 
south  swiftly  he  flies,  in  the  defence  of  his  country;  as 
a  good  soldier  he  is  ever  vigilant  for  her  welfare."  It 
was  understood  at  Milledgeville  that  he  was  to  take 
charge  of  General  Floyd's  army;  but  there  was  ap- 
parently no  place  for  him  or  men  for  him  to  command 
as  the  following  letter  indicates: 

"Military  District  No.  6. 
"Honorable  John  Armstrong. 

"Dear  Sir:  I  take  leave  to  address  you  for  the 
purpose  of  resigning  the  commission  which  the  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  has  honored  me  with.  As 
the  reasons  which  induce  this  determination  are  inter- 
esting only  to  myself  and  family,  I  abstain  from  offering 
them,  but  have  requested  Col.  Taylor  to  explain  them 
to  you. 

"I  cannot  take  leave  of  you  without  assuring  you  of 
the  grateful  sense  entertained  for  your  official  conduct 
towards 

"Your  very  grateful  and  sincere  friend 
"David  R.  Williams. 

"N.  B.  This  would  have  been  transmitted  to  you 
through  Gen.  Pinckney,  but  not  being  in  command, 
have  not  thought  it  material — he  is  apprised  of  it. " 

The  above  was  copied  and  sent  by  George  Andrews, 
the  present  (1913)  Adjutant-General  with  these  words: 
"Herewith  inclosed  a  copy  of  the  resignation  of  David 
R.  Williams,  Brigadier-General,  U.  S.  A.,"  which  res- 

103 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

ignation  appears  to  have  been  tendered,  December  8, 
1813,  but  not  to  have  been  accepted  until  April  6,  1914. 

Where  was  he  and  why  did  four  months  intervene 
before  his  resignation  was  accepted?  General  Floyd 
was  in  command  of  a  small  army  sent  out  against  the 
Creek  Indians.  He  was  not  superseded  by  General 
Williams,  for  a  junction  with  him  was  the  object  of 
General  Jackson's  march  southward  in  which,  during 
the  month  of  January,  1814,  he  crushed  the  Indians  in 
three  great  battles.  On  the  21st  of  April  General 
Jackson  and  General  Pinckney  united  with  their  forces 
and  on  the  next  day  disbanded  the  Tennessee  army, 
General  Jackson  himself  returning  home.  General 
Pinckney  generously  acknowledged  General  Jackson's 
worth  and  recommended  that  the  Sixth  Military  Dis- 
trict be  divided  and  that  Jackson  be  made  Major- 
General  of  the  Seventh.  Generals  Hampton  and  Harri- 
son having  resigned,  Jackson  was  made  Major-General 
and  assigned  to  the  new  Military  District. 

General  Williams'  resignation  is  without  a  post- 
office,  so  that  where  he  was  and  how  employed  are 
entirely  unknown.  There  is  no  evidence  to  be  found  at 
Washington  that  he  ever  commanded  any  forces  after 
he  came  South.  The  expression  "Not  being  in  com- 
mand" found  in  his  letter  of  resignation  is  ambiguous, 
but  it  must  apply  to  himself.  He  probably  went  home 
in  expectation  of  an  immediate  acceptance  of  his  resig- 
nation, about  which  he  wrote  again  in  January  from 
Cheraw,  C.  H. 

No  reason  need  be  given  for  his  resignation,  outside 
of  what  is  hinted  at  in  his  letter.  There  was  little 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  military  talent  and  he 
had  too  much  energy  to  be  satisfied  in  the  tented  field 

104 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

when  no  active  service  was  in  sight.  "I  love,"  said 
he  in  1828,  "like  Murat  in  his  best  days,  to  lead  the 
charge.  I  am  a  miserable  poor  hand  at  defence." 
The  last  year  almost  added  famine  in  some  places  to 
the  curse  of  war,  and  no  doubt  his  several  hundred 
slaves  needed  his  personal  attention.  His  retirement 
was  accomplished  with  no  loss  of  reputation  among  the 
people  or  with  General  Pinckney. 

A  letter  of  inquiry  addressed  to  the  Pension  Bureau 
brought  from  the  present  Commissioner,  G.  M.  Salz- 
gaber,  this  information: 

"Relative  to  your  letter,  concerning  a  claim  for  pen- 
sion or  bounty  land  filed  in  this  bureau  based  on  the 
service  of  David  R.  Williams  in  the  War  of  1812,  you 
are  advised  that  a  search  of  the  records  fails  to  show 
that  a  claim  for  pension  or  bounty  land  based  on  his 
service  has  been  filed. " 

Sources:  The  Minutes  of  the  Ninth  Brigade  of 
Militia  under  General  Erasmus  Powe,  a  manuscript  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  William  Godfrey  of  Cheraw,  of 
invaluable  assistance  on  this  subject,  as  also  have  been 
the  Records  of  the  War  Department,  the  Pension 
Bureau,  and  Annals  of  Congress.  The  Camden  Journal, 
Carolina  Gazette,  Charleston  Courier,  the  native  news- 
paper sources  of  information.  The  linen  tent  brought 
home  by  General  Williams  remained  in  good  condition 
till  1861,  when  it  was  presented  by  Mrs.  J.  N.  Williams 
to  a  mess  in  Company  F,  Eighth  South  Carolina 
Volunteers.     (Dr.  James  Mcintosh.) 


105 


CHAPTER  XII 

GOVERNOR  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

THE  remaining  portion  of  the  year  1814  was 
spent  on  the  farm,  where  in  the  month  of 
December  he  had  to  choose  between  duty  and 
self-interest.  The  event  has  become  one  of  the  best 
known  in  the  history  of  the  state.  It  changed  his 
name  from  "Thunder  and  Lightning  Williams"  to 
"The  Cincinnatus  of  Society  Hill."  The  story  shall 
be  told  with  the  inevitable  variations  by  several  writers, 
the  first  introduced  being  Judge  John  Belton  O'Neall : 

"In  December,  1814,  the  legislature  seemed  not  to 
be  satisfied  to  elect  either  of  the  avowed  candidates  for 
governor.  The  Mess  at  Mrs.  McGowan's  consisted  of 
a  large  number  of  upper  country  members,  among  whom 
were  Colonel  Starling,  Major  Robert  Wood,  and  others, 
with  whom  I  was  well  acquainted.  I  was  then  a  little 
over  twenty-one,  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  May 
and  been  in  service  with  Colonel  Tucker  and  Major 
Wood  at  Camp  Alston.  I  had  therefore  some  of  the 
presumption  of  youth,  with  the  privilege  of  acquaint- 
ance with  these  eminent  men.  I  had  seen  by  the 
papers  that  Gen.  David  R.  Williams  of  Society  Hill  had 
resigned  his  commission  in  the  United  States  service 
and  was  at  home.  I  took  the  liberty  of  suggesting  to 
the  gentlemen  of  Mrs.  G's  mess  General  Williams  as  a 

106 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

fit  person  to  be  governor.  It  met  with  unanimous 
approbation  and  on  consulting  his  friend,  Timothy 
Dargan  of  Darlington,  who  said  he  knew  the  General 
did  not  desire  the  office,  but  he  knew  he  had  never 
refused  to  serve  when  elected,  he  was  put  in  nomination 
before  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  and 
was  elected  by  an  overwhelming  vote.  A  messenger 
was  dispatched  to  inform  him  of  his  election.  The 
messenger  met  him  driving  his  own  wagon  near  Society 
Hill  and  inquired  if  General  Williams  was  at  home;  he 
was  answered  that  he  was  not,  that  the  driver  was  the 
man.  The  messenger  could  hardly  believe  the  fact. 
He  however  delivered  the  written  message.  The  Gen- 
eral read  it  and  swore  he  regarded  it  as  the  greatest 
misfortune  of  his  life.  He  however  said  to  the  messen- 
ger, 'Go  home  with  me  and  I  will  send  an  answer  in  the 
morning.'  He  accordingly  wrote  that  he  would  be  in 
Columbia,  on  the  proper  day,  and  take  the  oath  of 
office.  The  day  rolled  around — an  immense  crowd  was 
in  attendance.  General  Williams  rode  on  horseback, 
dismounted,  hitched  his  horse  at  a  rack,  which  once 
stood  near  the  wall  before  the  state  house. 

"General  Williams  was  introduced  by  a  Committee 
of  the  Senate  and  House  and  stood  in  front  of  the 
speaker.  I  saw  him  then  from  the  gallery  for  the  first 
time.  He  was  in  blue  broadcloth  dress  coat  and  vest. 
His  face  was  a  slim  florid  one.  He  was  not  more  than 
four  feet  eight  inches  in  height,  of  a  full  habit,  inclining 
to  corpulency.  His  portrait  in  the  college  library  by 
John  S.  Cogdell  is  a  good  likeness  as  he  stood  before 
me  that  day.  His  speech  was  one  which  went  home  to 
every  heart.  As  soon  as  he  had  taken  his  oath,  his 
commission  had  been  read  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  and 

107 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

he  had  been  proclaimed  by  the  Sheriff  of  Richland  from 
the  eastern  portico  of  the  state  house,  I  with  Capt. 
John  Henderson,  Col.  James  Williams,  and  Capt.  George 
Creeliss,  three  of  the  members  from  Newberry,  started 
to  walk  to  our  lodgings.  Henderson  said  to  Williams, 
'that  is  none  of  your  little  d d  raccoon  governors.' " 

Judge  O'Neall's  account,  found  in  his  "Bench  and 
Bar,"  was  written  years  after  the  event,  but  the  next 
reference  to  this  episode  was  made  on  the  spot  by  a 
correspondent  of  the  Carolina  Gazette: 

"Gen.  D.  R.  Williams,"  said  he,  on  the  10th  of  De- 
cember, 1814,  "is  our  governor — the  election  came  off 
yesterday.  He  received  137  votes.  An  Express  has 
been  sent  to  the  governor-elect,  with  an  address  signed 
by  upwards  of  70  members  requesting  him  to  accept 
the  office.  The  general  replied  that  he  would  not  be 
candidate  and  greatly  preferred  a  private  station;  but 
if  called  to  the  important  station,  his  principles  as  a 
republican  left  him  no  election." 

On  the  third  day  General  Williams  replied : 

Addressed:  "  The  President  of  the  Senate  and  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  South  Caro- 
lina, Columbia. 

"Society  Hill  12M.  Dec,  1814. 
"Gentlemen:  The  letter  which  you  addressed  to 
me,  in  to  a  resolution  of  the  Legislature  of  So.  Carolina 
is  this  moment  to  hand. 

"Penetrated  with  profound  gratitude  for  the  confi- 
dence and  honour  bestowed  upon  me,  I  shall  proceed 
forthwith  to  Columbia  at  which  place  I  shall  await  the 
farther  disposition  of  the  Legislature  on  Saturday  next. 

108 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

"With  great  personal  consideration  I  have  the  honor 

to  be 

"Your  most  obt  & 

very  faithful  servant : 
David  R.  Williams." 
The  President  of  the  Senate  &  Speaker  of  the  H.  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 

From  the  same  correspondent  of  the  Gazette: 

"Columbia,  S.  C. 
"Dec.  18,  1814. 
"We  were  yesterday  gratified  with  one  of  the  most 
delightful  scenes  I  have  ever  witnessed — the  qualifica- 
tion of  Gen.  Williams.  To  a  person  commanding  and 
eloquent,  he  adds  a  countenance  full  of  energy  and 
intelligence,  and  a  voice  melodious  and  powerful.  The 
address  delivered  to  the  legislature  was  one  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  eloquence.  The  present  situation  of  the 
country  and  the  horrors  of  invasion  from  the  enemy, 
were  painted  in  a  manner  of  which  I  could  give  you  no 
idea.  The  eyes  of  many  were  filled  with  tears  and  the 
heart  of  every  patriot  beat  high.  In  a  word,  it  was 
impossible  to  give  you  any  adequate  idea  of  the  impres- 
sion produced  by  the  scene  I  have  described.  I  believe 
no  man  ever  went  into  office  with  so  much  popularity 
as  Gov.  Williams  and  no  man  doubts  but  he  will  fully 
equal  public  expectations.  There  were  men  who  had 
been  led  to  believe  that  Gen.  Williams  did  not  possess 
talent  of  the  first  order;  that  he  was  hot-headed,  in- 
judicious man,  not  qualified  for  important  trusts. 
Men  of  strong  passions  and  ardent  minds  will  ever  be 
regarded  in  that  light  by  the  cold  politicians  of  the  pres- 

109 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

ent  day.  There  is  not,  however,  one  man  in  this  place 
of  any  party,  who  does  not  now  admit  the  talents  and 
virtues  of  Gen.  Williams." 

Another  account  embodies  the  tradition  in  one 
branch  of  the  family:*  "His  usual  plantation  attire  was 
heavy  brown  jeans.  At  the  moment  the  messenger 
from  Columbia  rode  up,  he  found  the  stocky  man  in 
brown  jeans  walking  beside  an  ox-team,  bearing  a  heavy 
rawhide  whip  on  his  shoulder.  The  apparent  driver  of 
the  team  had  just  sent  the  negro  driver  back  to  the 
barn  to  bring  some  tool  on  his  shoulder,  to  go  along 
with  the  wagon,  but  which  had  been  neglected.  This 
is  the  explanation  of  the  tradition:  Rather  than 
let  the  slow-moving  team  stand  still  the  master  kept 
it  moving  on  until  his  negro  driver  could  go  and  return. 
In  reply  to  the  legislature's  messenger  on  the  stop, 
General  Williams  merely  advised  him  to  ride  back 
several  miles  to  his  home  (Centre  Hall)  and  there  await 
General  Williams.  When  the  General  appeared  later 
in  his  parlor,  dressed  in  blue  broadcloth  coat  and  brass 
buttons,  buff  trousers,  etc.,  the  messenger  was  astounded 
to  see  the  ox-wagon  driver.  Like  General  Jackson,  he 
was  a  courtly  gentleman  of  society  as  well  as  a  burly 
man  of  different  environments." 

General  Williams  became  Governor  on  the  17th  of 
December,  1814,  at  one  o'clock  p.  m.,  "after  having 
addressed  the  members  in  a  short  speech,  in  which  I 
took  care  to  guard  against  promises  and  professions,  and 
exhorting  the  legislature  to  adopt  every  measure  calcu- 

*Given  by  John  Witherspoon  DuBose,  a  native  of  Society  Hill,  a  political  essayist, 
author  of  the  "  Life  and  Times]of  Yancey, "  and  other  books,  as  it  was  received  from  his 
Uncle  John  Witherspoon  of  Society  Hill,  who  married  General  Williams'  granddaughter, 
and  as  a  lad  saw  the  Governor  almost  daily  and  heard  from  his  family  many  incidents 
of  the  General's  interesting  life. 

no 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

lated  to  defend  this  state  against  our  revengeful  and 
degenerate  enemy."*  On  the  fourth  day  of  his  term  he 
received  a  letter  from  General  Pinckney,  showing  that 
the  funds  of  the  general  government  at  his  disposal  had 
been  exhausted  and  requesting  him  to  recommend  the 
legislature  to  come  to  his  relief.  He  did  so  at  once  and 
secured  a  liberal  response. 

In  the  "Genuine  Book  of  Nullification,"  by  "Hamp- 
den," are  found  these  comments:  "Let  us  now  turn 
from  New  England,  at  the  period  when  this  most  patri- 
otic convention  at  Hartsford  (with  a  mighty  invading 
force,  in  the  heart  of  our  country  and  a  powerful  navy, 
with  reinforcements,  hovering  on  our  coasts)  is  engaged 
in  adopting  measures  to  withdraw  the  resources  of  the 
Eastern  States  and  to  embarrass  and  resist  the  general 
government — let  us  turn  from  this  glorious  scene  to  the 
traitorous  and  ignoble  conduct  of  South  Carolina  at  this 
critical  conjuncture.  On  the  22d  of  December,  1814, 
the  governor  of  South  Carolina  addressed  the  following 
letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States : 

"  'Executive  Department, 
"  'Columbia,  Dec.  22,  1814. 
"'Sir:  On  the  21st  inst.  I  received  a  letter  from 
Major-General  Pinckney,  covering  several  others, 
the  purport  of  which  was  to  inform  me  that  the 
funds  of  the  general  government  at  his  disposal 
were  exhausted  and  that  the  troops  now  in  service 
for  the  defence  of  this  state  could  not  be  subsisted 
without  money,  and  suggested  the  propriety  of  my 
recommending  to  the  legislature  the  expediency  of 

•Quoted  from  his  diary,  the  original  copy  of  which  is  in  the  hands  of  Professor  Ames. 

Ill 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

an  appropriation,  in  relief  of  the  finances  of  the 
United  States  at  this  moment. 

"T  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  two 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars  have  been 
placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  government  by  the 
legislature  last  evening.  This  disposition  of  the 
state  manifests  the  continued  good  will  and  faith- 
fulness which  our  citizens  feel  toward  (sic)  the 
administration;  in  return  for  which  I  cannot  but 
crave  their  special  care  of  its  defence.  I  hope  it  is 
unnecessary  to  add  that  my  individual  and  official 
efforts  will  not  be  wanting  in  aiding  the  government 
whenever  in  my  power. 

"'Respectfully  yours, 

"T>.  R.  Williams/ 

"Thus  it  is  an  historic  fact,"  continued  Hampden, 
"that  in  one  of  the  darkest  hours  of  our  country's  ex- 
istence, the  embarrassment  of  the  Union  was  communi- 
cated to  our  legislature  and  before  their  adjournment 
in  evening,  the  Representatives  of  the  People  of  South 
Carolina  freely,  and  at  great  sacrifice,  opened  their 
treasury  to  relieve  and  sustain  the  Union.  To  a  man  of 
plain  understanding  it  would  appear  that  one  such  Act 
in  the  hour  of  need  would  outweigh  ten  thousand  Pro- 
fessions of  patriotism  at  the  present  moment  of  our 
government's  utmost  peace  and  power." 

The  governor's  letter  does  not  tell  the  whole  story  of 
the  patriotic  devotion  of  the  people  in  the  War  of  1812; 
for  the  people  and  the  city  of  Charleston  especially 
were  suffering  in  a  financial  way.  The  enemy's  fleet 
caused  importations  to  cease,  by  blockading  the  ports 
and  capturing  the  small  coast  vessels.     As  commerce 

112 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

disappeared,  cotton  and  rice  became  unsalable,  to  the 
detriment  of  the  farmer  and  the  people  in  the  city  alike. 
(Mrs.  Ravenel.) 

The  years  1815  and  1816  are  for  Governor  Williams 
the  fullest  of  service,  the  crest  of  the  increasing  volume 
of  energetic  and  warm-hearted  service — of  the  state 
and  the  people;  and  fortunately  his  still  extant  diary  of 
the  period,  supplemented  by  newspapers  and  contem- 
poraneous records,  leads  one  as  in  a  great  white  way 
through  that  period.  On  the  22d  of  December  he  was 
elected  Major-General  of  the  Fourth  Division,  and  on 
the  next  day  visited  and  repaired  the  arsenal  at  Camden. 
After  spending  Christmas  at  Centre  Hall,  he  visited 
Charleston  and  its  arsenal  and  indited  a  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  James  Monroe,  in  which  was  trans- 
mitted a  copy  of  "an  act  to  raise  a  Brigade  of  State 
Troops,' '  for  service  during  the  war,  and  a  discussion 
of  some  nice  points  liable  to  be  raised  in  the  cooperation 
of  state  and  United  States  forces:  "I  am  solicitous  to 
have  an  understanding  upon  a  point  before  the  case 
arises,  which  though  perfectly  clear  to  my  mind  may  not 
be  to  others.  If  the  state  of  South  Carolina  shall  be 
invaded  during  my  administration,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  every  effort  the  Constitution  has  put  in  my  power 
to  make,  will  be  executed.  In  addition  to  the  common 
resort  to  the  militia,  limited  by  the  discretion  of  the 
United  States  officer,  such  an  invasion  may  be  made  as 
will  call  for  a  force  on  state  account  beyond  the  com- 
mand of  a  Major-General — with  such  a  force  I  shall 
find  it  my  duty  as  well  as  my  inclination  to  take  the 
field.  While  acting  in  cooperation  with  the  forces  of 
the  general  government  within  the  limits  of  the  state, 
can  it  be  doubted  what  ought  to  be  the  extent  of  my 

113 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

authority  over  all  the  cooperating  forces,  seeing  the 
Constitution  has  made  me  the  Commander-in-chief? 
The  period  for  settling  questions  of  moment  is  surely 
before  either  the  pride  of  command  or  the  prejudices 
of  officers  are  enlisted  against  reason.  In  the  hour  of 
battle  or  even  in  immediate  preparation  for  it,  there 
can  be  no  time  to  discuss  calmly  who  shall  have  the 
right  to  be  foremost  in  the  charge,  and  therefore  it  is 
this  understanding  (which)  is  sought.  I  will  not  add 
that  it  is  made  in  the  spirit  of  the  most  friendly  and 
cordial  solicitude  for  the  common  cause.  If  I  may  not 
safely  leave  such  an  inference  to  the  President's  and 
your  bosoms  after  a  long  service  in  a  coordinate  branch 
of  the  government,  all  professions  of  mine  would  be 
disregarded  and  superfluous.  On  this  subject  I  have 
not  communicated  with  General  Pinckney,  because  it 
may  never  be  necessary  for  him  to  know  that  I  have 
ever  thought  of  it;  we  have  difficulties  enough  to  en- 
counter that  spring  out  of  the  pressure  of  the  times; 
inevitably  such  as  can  be  avoided  will  never  be  solicited 
by  me.     .     .     . 

"  We  are  now  in  an  awful  suspense,  have  lost  the  run 
of  the  enemy  and  know  not  where  he  is  concentrating. 
If  my  actions  could  be  quickened  into  more  activity  in 
endeavoring  to  repel  him  should  he  appear  here,  by 
any  other  consideration  than  my  country's  honor  and 
safety,  it  would  be  that  your  successes  would  have  a 
tendency  to  kindle  toward  you  the  gratitude  of  the 
state.     Accept  my  kindest  regards. " 

On  the  14th,  continues  the  diary,  "almost  the  whole 
day  was  spent  in  viewing  the  lines  and  works  erected 
for  the  defence  of  Charleston  (weak  on  the  left  flank). 
General  Pinckney  very  politely  attended  me  with  his 

114 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

suit."  A  description  of  the  defences  as  furnished  in 
Thomas'  Reminiscences  is  not  only  interesting  in  itself 
but  also  needed  to  make  fuller  Hampden's  account  of 
the  patriotism  of  the  little  state:  "It  was  determined 
to  fortify  the  city  on  the  land  side  by  a  line  of  works 
across  the  neck,  from  Ashley  to  Cooper  Rivers,  thus 
completely  cutting  off  the  city  from  the  country.  The 
engineer  was  immediately  set  to  work  to  lay  out  the 
plan,  which  was  soon  done,  and  the  citizens  determined 
to  carry  it  into  execution  with  all  possible  expedition. 
The  work  to  the  best  of  my  recollection  consisted  of  a 
wall  of  earth  ten  feet  high  and  fifteen  feet  thick,  with  a 
ditch  in  front,  ten  feet  deep  and  twenty  wide,  so  that 
it  was  twenty  feet  from  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  to  the 
top  of  the  battlement.  In  the  construction  of  the  wall 
every  shovel  full  of  earth  was  pounded  down,  until  it 
was  as  solid  as  it  was  possible  to  make  it.  It  was  then 
handsomely  sodded.  There  were  zigzags,  equidistant, 
along  the  whole  line,  in  which  the  heaviest  guns  were 
mounted  to  rake  the  ditch.  The  guns  were  all  mounted 
in  barbet  at  first,  but  it  was  soon  discovered  that  that 
plan  would  expose  the  men  too  much.  Embrasures 
were  then  cut  which  greatly  disfigured  the  work,  but 
would  have  been  a  great  safeguard  to  the  men,  had 
there  been  an  attack.  The  men  of  small  arms  were 
completely  sheltered,  except  at  the  moment  of  firing, 
and  then  only  their  heads  would  have  been  exposed. 
There  were  78  pieces  of  cannon  on  the  wall,  and  the 
lines  were  manned  by  seven  thousand  men,  to  which 
three  thousand  men  could  have  been  added  in  an  hour. 
This  great  piece  of  work  was  the  production  of  the 
citizens  and  their  slaves.  A  large  sum  was  subscribed 
to  pay  laborers.     All  took  their  turn  at  the  work — even 

115 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

the  ladies,  to  the  number  of  several  hundreds,  marched 
out  and  carried  sods  all  one  day.  It  was  a  glorious 
sight  to  see  the  patriotic  enthusiasm  which  prevailed. 
The  British  officers  that  came  to  Charleston  imme- 
diately after  the  peace  pronounced  it  the  handsomest 
and  best  put  together  piece  of  field  work  they  ever  saw. " 

On  the  15th,  while  in  Charleston,  Governor  Williams 
issued  a  reward  for  the  apprehension  of  a  person  who 
shot  at  Editor  Thomas,  sitting  after  dark  in  the  house 
of  a  friend,  a  circumstance  which  grew  out  of  a  suit 
against  the  editor.  The  suit  went  against  Thomas  for 
accusing  publicly  a  candidate  of  bribery,  and  after  the 
sentence  was  pronounced  "a  messenger  was  sent  to  the 
governor,  who  was  a  hundred  miles  and  more  up  the 
country,  engaged  in  reviewing  the  militia.  The  mes- 
senger found  him  at  a  review  and  handed  him  his  dis- 
patches, which  having  read,  he  took  out  a  pencil  and 
wrote,  making  use  of  the  pommel  of  his  saddle  for  a 
desk,  a  full  and  free  pardon  for  myself  (Thomas)  and 
Doctor  Mackey." 

On  the  30th  of  January  the  Governor  returned  to 
Charleston,  after  having  explored  the  inland  navigation 
as  far  as  the  northern  extremity  of  St.  Helena.  Selected 
four  points  for  fortifications  i.  e.:  White  Point,  Fen- 
wick's  Island,  Field's  Point,  and  the  extremity  of  St. 
Helena;  and  reviewed  the  militia  of  the  city,  including 
alarm  men.  Many  men  of  age  and  respectability  were 
found  in  the  ranks,  officers  looked  well,  but  fewer  arms 
and  men  than  he  expected.  His  next  serious  business 
was  the  classification  of  the  militia,  but  the  raising  of 
the  new  brigade  and  other  contemplated  preparations 
for  defence  were  suddenly  brought  to  a  standstill.  On 
the  19th,  while  at  Centre  Hall,  he  received  the  intelli- 

116 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

gence  of  the  arrival  at  Washington  of  the  Treaty  of 
Peace.  He  was  soon  in  Charleston  where  he  had  peace 
proclaimed  by  the  sheriff  through  the  city.  "The  rati- 
fication of  the  Treaty  of  Peace, "  he  said  in  his  instruc- 
tions to  the  forces  under  him  as  commander-in-chief, 
"between  the  United  States  and  his  Britannic  Majesty 
suspends  the  necessity  of  holding  the  militia  of  the 
state  in  the  classes  as  ordered  by  the  General  Orders  of 
the  4th  inst.,  they  are  therefore  dismissed  and  the  re- 
turns dispensed  with.  Duplicate  Brigade  returns  of 
the  effective  militia,  their  arms  and  accoutrements; 
and  in  conformity  with  the  order,  will  be  prepared  and 
delivered  to  the  encampment,  one  copy  to  the  Adjutant- 
General  and  the  other  to  the  Major-General."  Orders 
naming  seventeen  regiments  and  the  places  and  dates  of 
review  and  exercise  were  issued,  at  most  of  which  the 
governor  himself  was  present.  At  one  of  the  brigade 
encampments  a  pair  of  speeches  were  reported  to  the 
press: 

"The  officers  of  the  Seventh  Brigade  encampment  at 
Strawberry  unanimously  request  leave  to  present  to 
your  excellency  their  thanks  for  the  interest  which  you 
have  taken  in  their  instruction,  and  the  correct  and 
polite  manner  in  which  you  have  personally  communi- 
cated to  them  much  valuable  information.  In  their 
opinion  the  character  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  has  re- 
ceived additional  lustre  from  your  military  talent." 

To  which  his  excellency  replied:  "Such  an  expression 
of  opinion  was  as  unexpected  as  it  was  agreeable.  He 
was  sensible  the  officers  had  estimated  his  motives 
rather  than  his  acts ;  they  had  bestowed  a  reward  more 
than  ample  for  much  greater  services.  Such  conduct 
on  the  part  of  his  Brother  officers  could  not  fail  to 

117 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

quicken  any  man  to  whom  it  might  be  directed — in 
the  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  should  not  fail  to  hold 
him  steadfast  to  them.  He  requested  the  Committee 
would  accept  for  themselves  and  present  to  the  officers 
for  whom  they  acted,  his  sincere  thanks. " 

Letters  were  transmitted  to  Generals  Brown,  Mc- 
Combs,  Scott,  Gaines,  Porter,  Ripley,  Commodore 
McDonough,  Captains  Warrington  and  Blakeley  and 
General  Jackson,  expressive  of  the  approbation  of  the 
legislature  of  South  Carolina,  with  one  from  himself  as 
follows:  "In  communicating  the  sentiments  of  the 
legislature  of  South  Carolina  as  contained  in  the  pre- 
ceding resolutions,  I  beg  leave  to  add  my  own  personal 
admiration  of  your  distinguished  valor  and  good  con- 
duct." 

In  November  Governor  Williams  sent  his  first  message 
to  the  Senate  and  House,  parts  of  which  are  given  below: 
"  To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

"Fellow  Citizens:  The  circumstances  which  affect 
our  beloved  country  and  those  portions  of  society  of 
men  with  which  our  commercial  interest  must  connect 
us  are  so  greatly  changed  since  your  last  session  that 
our  nation,  then  selected  by  a  powerful  and  enraged 
enemy  as  the  object  of  vengeance  and  punishment,  now 
finds  itself,  after  a  great  and  successful  struggle,  enjoy- 
ing the  only  desirable  situation  of  all  that  community 
of  states. 

"The  influences  of  an  honorable  peace  pervade  our 
whole  country.  The  exigencies  or  ravages  of  a  cruel 
and  frightful  war  oppress  those  who  were  then  either 
careless  of  our  fate  or  solicitous  of  our  ruin.  The 
ministers  of  England  finding  its  immense  and  victorious 
armies  disposable  by  the  peace  of  Paris  and  estimating 

118 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

our  strength  as  they  would  that  of  a  power  of  the  old 
world,  by  the  number  of  our  army,  ordered  confident 
of  success,  the  conflagration  of  our  cities,  the  spoil  of 
our  land,  and  without  doubt  expected  as  sanguinely  as 
they  wished  the  overthrow  of  our  government;  yet  the 
republic  stands  erect  under  the  laurels  of  a  glorious  war, 
and  encircled  with  a  character,  now  become  valuable 
to  us,  diffuses  happiness  within  and  presents  to  our 
immense  borders,  for  the  purposes  of  defence,  all  the 
stability  and  firmness  of  the  mountain  adamant.  The 
distinguished  valor  and  good  conduct  of  the  army,  the 
wonderful  successful  resistance  of  the  militia  on  land, 
the  brilliant  and  continued  victories  on  the  ocean,  above 
all  the  termination  of  hostilities,  at  the  precise  moment, 
most  honorable  and  advantageous,  establishing  and 
building  upon  our  happy  and  free  institutions,  pros- 
trating equally  to  the  hopes  of  the  open  enemy  and  the 
secret  traitor,  all  mark  us  as  a  favored  people  of  God, 
and  command  our  most  devout  gratitude. 

"This  development  of  our  resources  under  circum- 
stances which  threatened  their  destruction  has  given 
much  importance  to  our  national  character  abroad,  as 
justifies  the  hope  of  security  against  the  repetition  of 
similar  wrongs  and  injuries,  as  those  which  induced  the 
war,  and  in  that  light  given  inestimable  importance  to 
the  occurrence.  The  brave  men  who  have  bled,  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  have  died  in  such  a 
conflict,  ought  not  to  be  disappointed  of  their  country's 
bounty — such  as  belong  to  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
I  present  not  to  your  justice  but  to  your  generos- 
ity.    .     .    . 

"A  consultation  was  held  with  Major-General 
Thomas   Pinckney,   commanding  the   Sixth   Military 

119 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

District,  in  relation  to  the  most  advantageous  points 
to  be  fortified,  for  the  defence  of  our  maritime  frontier; 
these  were  reconnoitred  by  the  Executive  in  person, 
and  in  such  as  were  found  to  embrace  the  advantages 
to  be  expected  (substituting  others  for  those  which  did 
not),  works  were  either  begun  or  preparations  made 
for  them  which  would  have  as  far  as  practicable  se- 
cured the  objects  of  the  legislature  within  a  very- 
limited  period  and  at  a  cost  much  under  the  appropria- 
tions made;  this  last  circumstance,  however,  is  to  be 
wholly  attributed  to  the  meritorious  and  patriotic 
disposition  which  influence  the  citizens  within  the 
neighborhood  of  these  works.  A  gratuitous  contribu- 
tion of  labor,  more  than  sufficient  for  their  completion, 
was  made  by  them.  Disbursement  of  the  funds  appro- 
priated were  therefore  necessary,  only  for  engineers 
and  munitions. 

"It  affords  the  highest  gratification  to  recollect  what 
were  the  dispositions  not  only  of  those  neighborhoods, 
but  of  all  the  citizens  of  this  state,  with  which  the  Ex- 
ecutive had  occasion  to  be  engaged  during  that  period 
which  threatened  so  eminently  to  try  the  souls  of  men. 
The  measures  which  were  secretly  prepared,  or  in  train 
for  the  defence  of  the  state,  depended  much  for  execu- 
tion on  the  dispositions  of  the  citizens ;  for  although  the 
physical  force  necessary  was  at  his  control,  the  means 
of  subsistance  without  arbitrary  executions,  were  not. 
It  is  now  believed  no  evil  would  have  resulted  from  such 
a  circumstance  before  the  legislature  could  have  been 
convened,  for  such  were  the  zeal  and  determination 
every  where  to  defend  the  state — the  zealous  and  patri- 
otic— the  sober-minded  and  virtuous — all  the  citizens 
with  which  he  communicated  on  the  subject,  offered  to 

120 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

throw  open  their  barns  and  store  houses  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  forces  and  pledge  themselves  to  support 
the  energetic  measures  that  should  be  adopted.  The 
exertions  made  by  the  citizens  of  Charleston  and  its 
vicinity  for  the  defence  of  that  place,  were  of  the  first 
order.  The  proof  of  this  is  to  be  seen  in  the  substantial 
works  completed  at  and  near  it.  The  preservation  of 
such  monuments  of  faithfulness  to  the  government  and 
love  to  the  country,  is  greatly  to  be  desired  if  only  for 
example,  and  now  cannot  fail  to  engage  your  attention, 
etc. 

"  Of  the  appropriations  voted  for  arms  and  munitions 
a  small  part  only  has  been  expended.  The  contracts 
which  were  made  prior  to  the  close  of  the  war,  for  ar- 
ticles chargeable  to  that  fund,  were  not  interfered  with; 
much  the  greatest  amount  of  these  is  not  perishable; 
those  about  which  we  were  only  in  treaty,  were  immedi- 
ately given  up.  Although  a  much  larger  number  of 
muskets  and  bayonets  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
militia  than  are,  the  circumstances  which  induced  such 
liberal  grants  of  money  for  those  objects  ceasing  to  oper- 
ate, it  was  considered  proper  that  those  funds  should  not 
be  expended  under  the  altered  state  of  things,  but  remain 
in  the  treasury,  subject  to  such  an  application  as  the 
legislature  might  make — whether  these  funds  ought 
now  to  be  appropriated  for  the  same  objects  or  applied 
with  others  in  relief  of  the  citizens  for  the  temporary 
heavy  contribution  induced  by  the  war,  is  with  you  to 
determine. 

"Those  arms,  which  on  careful  inspection,  have  been 
found  not  worth  repairing,  have  been  laid  aside;  all  the 
others  are  in  good  order  and  fit  for  immediate  use.  If 
an  additional  number  of  arms  is  required,  almost  any 

121 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

number  can  be  procured.  Beyond  that  number  neces- 
sary to  state  purposes,  it  is  considered  just  and  consti- 
tutional that  the  military  should  be  supplied  by  the 
general  government.  An  expression  of  the  wishes  of 
the  legislature  in  relation  to  this  subject,  cannot  fail 
to  receive  from  the  government  an  attentive  consider- 
ation, and  may  induce  it  to  enlarge  the  appropriation 
now  made  'for  arming  the  whole  body  of  the  militia,' 
to  an  amount  bearing  some  proportion  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  object.  An  expression  of  the  pleasure  of  the  leg- 
islature is  necessary  concerning  such  arms  and  munitions 
as  have  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  militia.  If  they 
are  not  to  be  called  in,  legal  penalties  should  be  provided 
to  prevent  their  removal  without  the  limits  of  the  state, 
as  also  for  their  care  and  preservation." 

The  legislature  having  promptly  acted  on  these  hints 
thrown  out,  Governor  Williams  sent  the  proceedings 
of  the  legislature  to  the  President,  and  among  his  own 
words  were  these:  "The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  vests  the  power  to  provide  arms  for  the  militia 
in  the  general  government  and  its  means  are  ample. 
Under  proper  organization  and  with  arms  the  militia 
must  continue  as  it  has  proved  the  nation's  safe  reli- 
ance. The  state  sovereignties  depend  on  it  and  the 
administration  of  the  general  government  also.  It  is, 
therefore,  with  peculiar  force  and  justice  I  am  directed 
to  call  on  you  for  that  which  a  wise  forecast  and  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  demand  not  more,  I 
persuade  myself,  than  your  own  judgment.  The  legis- 
lature believe  they  are  entitled  to  reap  a  proportion  of 
the  arms  that  have  been  procured  by  the  appropriation 
for  '  arming  the  whole  body  of  the  militia'  as  the  relative 
population  of  the  state  will  authorize." 

122 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

"A  variety  of  expenses,"  continues  the  first  message, 
"have  been  incurred  and  paid  by  the  state,  during  the 
late  war,  which,  if  right,  ought  to  be  discharged  by  the 
United  States.  Property  also  to  a  considerable  amount 
has  been  injured  or  destroyed  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States.  Such  arms  and  equipments  as  our  law 
requires  the  militia  should  be  furnished  with,  and  which 
had  been  issued  to  them,  while  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  were  ordered  to  be  received  into  our 
arsenals,  although  injured  and  a  critical  account  of  the 
damages  taken,  such  as  were  not  required  by  law,  but 
loaned  to  the  officer  of  the  United  States  commanding 
within  the  state,  were  ordered  not  to  be  received,  hav- 
ing been  injured  on  the  presumption  that  the  United 
States  would  return  an  equivalent  in  kind.  The  will  of 
the  legislature  when  expressed  on  these  subjects  shall 
be  attended  to." 

In  October  it  transpired  that  the  general  government 
had  sent  seven  hundred  and  sixty-three  stands  of 
arms  to  South  Carolina's  quota  and  that  a  hitch  had 
occurred  between  the  parties  appointed  by  the  state 
and  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  halt  in  the  settle- 
ment brought  forth  a  letter  from  the  Governor  on  the 
subject  to  his  friend,  William  H.  Crawford,  Secretary 
of  War: 

"Colonel  Hayne  has  exhibited  our  vouchers  for  arms 
loaned  to  the  general  government,  being  receipts  from 
officers  in  the  service  and  pay  of  that  government,  to 
which  Captain  M.  objects,  stating  that  he  must  produce 
the  receipt  not  of  the  officer  but  of  the  United  States 
arsenal  keeper  to  prove  the  deposit  thereof,  a  certain 
number  of  arms,  and  that  for  these  only  can  he  account. 
If  this  be  the  rule  and  we  are  to  procure  or  lose  our  am- 

123 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

munitions  according  to  it  only,  Captain  M.  will  not 
have  much  trouble  in  this  quarter,  as  I  fear,  notwith- 
standing all  our  loans,  we  may  not  have  a  voucher  to 
fit  the  rules,  however  well  the  rule  may  fit  the  conven- 
ience of  the  United  States. 

"The  liberal  and  confiding  spirit  of  our  legislature 
during  the  late  war  formed  the  rule  by  which  my  pre- 
decessor in  office  during  that  period  and  myself  have 
been  governed.  I  believe  not  one  of  us  imagined  our 
duties  were  accomplished  while  there  remained  any- 
thing undone  in  our  power  to  do,  either  for  the  general 
government  or  for  its  military  officers.  Hence  it  hap- 
pened that  loans  of  munitions  of  war  being  asked  for 
by  Major  General  Pinckney  of  our  Executives  and  were 
granted  arms,  tents,  camp  equipments  and  everything 
in  our  arsenals  were  furnished  on  the  receipt  (I  fear 
sometimes  without  receipts)  of  officers  receiving  them 
— hence  also  a  standing  order  to  our  arsenal  keepers  to 
furnish  on  the  requisition  of  an  officer  of  the  United 
States  service  anything  needed  for  that  service.  This 
was  the  principle  upon  which  I  understood  my  prede- 
cessor acted  and  I  willingly  followed  so  loyal  an  example, 
confident  that  the  legislature  would  prefer  the  property 
should  be  lost  rather  than  be  wanted  in  the  general 
defence.  The  wants  of  General  Pinckney  were,  to  our 
utmost,  supplied,  the  articles  receipted  for  by  the  offi- 
cers under  his  orders,  yet  Captain  M.'s  instructions  oblige 
him  to  consider  the  receipts  as  also  invalid,  because 
signed  by  a  military  officer.  It  is  a  fact  there  was  not 
a  musket,  bayonet,  cartouch  box  or  tent  fit  for  service 
in  our  arsenal  at  Charleston  when  I  came  into  office,  and 
the  state  had  not  a  soldier  in  the  field — all  of  the  last 
mentioned  articles  were  in  the  service  of  the  United 

124 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

States,  I  think  fully  nine  months.  You  can  very  well 
estimate  their  value  when  returned. 

"When  St.  Mary's  fell  and  fears  were  entertained  for 
Savannah,  General  Pinckney  called  on  me  for  additional 
troops  to  cover  that  city  and  adjacent  country.  These 
were  armed  from  a  deposit  of  our  arms  at  Coosawhat- 
ehie — they  were  discharged  at  the  Sisters  Ferry  on 
the  Savannah — your  personal  knowledge  evidences  for 
us  that  the  rule  now  contended  for  could  not  be  com- 
plied with  had  we  known  of  its  existence;  at  that  period 
there  was  no  time  to  dispute  about  straws;  the  arms 
were  issued — shall  not  the  receipt  for  them  be  now 
considered  valid  because  they  were  not  signed  by  ar- 
senal keepers?  Touching  these  arms  they  were  issued 
by  my  orders  and  I  thought  proper  to  inquire  of  General 
Pinckney  after  he  had  dismissed  the  troops  who  bore 
them.  I  take  leave  to  add  an  extract  from  his  letter 
concerning  them  and  munitions  generally: 

'"The  arms  delivered  us  by  Colonel  Austin  were 
ordered  on  account  of  the  facility  of  transportation  to 
be  conveyed  to  Quarter  Master's  Department  at  Sa- 
vannah. I  presume  that  the  arms  delivered  to  the  5th 
Brigade  were  among  them,  in  which  case  they  shall  be 
returned  at  your  election,  either  to  Coosawhatchie  or 
this  place.  General  Pinckney  soon  [resigned  and  we] 
have  not  yet  received  a  musket.'  .  .  .  The  rule 
which  Captain  M.  now  objects  had  no  existence.  The 
troops  were  not  under  our  orders;  we  could  make  no 
regulations  for  the  preservation  of  our  property.  .  .  . 
No,  sir;  we  believed  we  loaned  to  the  United  States  on 
much  better  security  than  any  such  regulation  could 
afford.  We  trusted  to  the  purity  of  their  character 
and  that  of  their  chief  officers,  at  a  time  when  patriot- 

125 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

ism  mourned  for  their  embarrassment — we  have  not 
yet  learned  to  doubt  either." 

In  a  second  message  to  the  legislature  bearing  the 
same  date,  the  Governor,  after  touching  on  the  attitude 
of  Europe,  brought  up  again  a  subject  nearest  his  heart, 
a  good  organization  of  the  militia,  and  exposed  the  evils 
of  the  system:  "About  the  time  the  enemy  occupied 
St.  Mary's,  for  example,  the  Quartermaster  General 
under  my  directions  ordered  a  regimental  Quarter- 
master General  to  remove  a  quantity  of  12  pound  balls 
from  the  arsenal,  to  a  certain  wharf  to  be  sent  to  Beau- 
fort. Obedience  was  by  letter  deliberately  refused ;  the 
officer  was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  disobedience,  tried 
and  acquitted.  No  exception  could  be  taken  either  to 
the  character  or  intelligence  of  the  officers  composing 
the  court.  To  enable  you  to  see  more  readily  how 
defective  our  system  is,  this  case  has  been  alluded  to. 
.  .  .  If  there  be  one  right  guaranteed  by  our  insti- 
tution upon  which  more  of  our  freedom  and  happiness 
depend  than  another,  the  right  to  bear  arms  surely  is 
that  one.  The  state  sovereignties  hold  their  militia 
as  a  kind  of  constitutional  army,  to  defend  themselves 
from  the  encroachments  of  the  general  government  and 
not  only  themselves  but  the  union  also  against  invasion. 
Here  then  is  the  vital  importance  of  the  militia  devel- 
oped. It  should  therefore  be  armed  and  equipped, 
ready  to  take  the  field.  Hence  our  institutions  become 
secured  in  proportion  to  the  correctness  and  faithful 
administration  of  our  military  organization;  for  while 
it  embraces,  it  guards  also  the  interests  of  life  and  all 
the  endearments  of  liberty.  If  this  greatest  object 
shall  be  neglected  during  this  peculiar  season  for  re- 
flection and  improvement,  our  posterity,  if  not  our- 

126 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

selves,  tracing  our  dreadful  catastrophe  to  that  very- 
negligence,  may  mourn  over  the  disgrace  and  ruin  of 
our  fallen  armies,  when  there  will  be  no  other  consola- 
tion to  patriotism  than  the  remembrance  of  what  its 
glory  and  prosperity  have  been. 

"A  wise  and  faithful  legislator,  therefore,  cannot 
consider  all  his  duties  performed,  while  the  militia  is 
deficient,  either  in  its  discipline  or  organization,  for 
want  of  the  necessary  legal  provisions.  To  perfect  it 
is  a  great  work,  worthy  of  the  noblest  ambition — to 
improve  it  should  be  the  dream  of  all — it  is  not  without 
diffidence,  this  attempt  at  the  latter  is  made — should 
other  and  better  means  be  adopted  no  one  will  rejoice 
more  than  David  R.  Williams." 

How  times  have  changed!  From  the  founding  of  the 
colony  to  the  civil  war,  military  service  was  universal. 
State  rights  and  the  rights  of  the  general  government 
magnified  the  importance  of  the  militia  and  kept  alive 
the  sparks  of  patriotism  in  the  breasts  of  men.  Even 
John  Adams  thought  our  liberty  would  be  gone  when 
the  militia  ceased  to  be.  After  the  mighty  struggle 
which  prostrated  the  state  rights  advocates,  the  mili- 
tary system  fell  to  pieces,  and  the  country  underwent 
changes  somewhat  parallel  to  what  Rome  went  through 
in  passing  into  an  empire.  The  citizens  were  left  to 
their  daily  pursuits  and  the  government  depended  on 
mercenary  native  or  foreign  volunteers.  As  govern- 
ments become  centralized  and  the  people  separated 
from  the  affairs  of  government,  peace  brings  prosperity, 
prosperity  brings  luxury  and  luxury  enervates  the 
nation.  At  this  moment  of  our  history  the  peace  ad- 
vocate is  raising  his  impotent  voice  and  feminine  virtues 
are  prevailing  more  and  more  over  the  masculine  ele- 

127 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

ment.  Men  of  wealth  become  less  religious  and  more 
benevolent,  and  the  sanguine  believe  that  far-off  day 
is  drawing  nigh  when  the  lion  and  the  lamb  shall  lie 
down  together  with  the  lamb  on  the  outside!  (This 
was  penned  a  few  weeks  before  the  invasion  of  Belgium.) 


128 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE    CLOSE   OF   HIS    GOVERNORSHIP 

IN  HIS  term  as  chief  magistrate,  Governor  Williams 
pushed  to  its  completion  the  settlement  of  a  line  in 
dispute  between  North  and  South  Carolina,  and 
the  purchase  of  some  land  within  the  state  still  belong- 
ing to  the  Cherokees.  His  friend,  W.  H.  Crawford,  in 
the  cabinet  at  Washington,  helped  to  consummate  the 
latter  transaction.  Governor  Williams'  messages  have 
been  and  are  to  be  drawn  upon  as  mines  of  information 
which  show  how  much  of  our  past  is  forgotten  or  never 
sees  the  light  in  our  histories. 

In  December,  1816,  the  Governor's  message  contained 
a  resume  of  the  main  events  within  that  period  and 
recommendations  on  several  subjects,  especially  the 
militia  of  the  state:  "The  rapid  progress  of  agriculture, 
accelerated  by  the  uncommon  rewards  of  labor  is  by 
constant  though  by  almost  imperceptible  degrees  im- 
pairing the  efficiency  of  our  arms,  by  lessening  the  ob- 
jects for  their  use,  as  the  forests  yield  to  the  axe,  the 
game  which  they  contained  disappear,  and  with  them 
much  of  the  excitement  to  a  dexterous  use  of  arms. 
Whether  these  have  so  far  diminished  as  to  require  other 
incentives  for  the  preservation  of  our  skill  in  gunnery, 
you  best  can  determine;  but  surely  an  honorable  re- 
ward to  such  individuals  as  may  from  time  to  time 

129 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

distinguish  themselves  in  the  regiments,  by  the  pre- 
cision of  their  fire,  would  be  productive  of  good,  as  it 
might  assist  to  prolong  the  accuracy  and,  of  course,  the 
efficiency  of  our  fire.  The  man  who  knows  and  feels 
that  he  is  superior  to  the  enemy  is  very  apt  to  meet  him 
as  the  militia  met  the  British  at  New  Orleans.  This 
knowledge  always  performs  wonders.  Our  measures 
should  be  at  least  as  much  addressed  to  the  moral  as  the 
physical  energies  of  the  people.  With  all  armies  equal 
reliance  may  be  placed  on  the  former  as  well  as  the 
latter,  and  with  the  infantry  infinitely  greater. 

"Two  events  have  occurred  during  the  present  year 
which  required  resort  to  military  force.  A  few  run- 
away negroes,  concealing  themselves  in  the  swamps  and 
the  marshes  contiguous  to  Combahee  and  Ashepoo 
rivers,  not  having  been  interrupted  in  their  petty  plun- 
derings  for  a  long  time,  formed  the  nucleus,  round  which 
all  the  ill-disposed  and  audacious  near  them  gathered, 
until  at  length  their  robberies  became  too  serious  to  be 
suffered  with  impunity.  Attempts  were  then  made  to 
disperse  them,  which  either  from  insufficiency  of  num- 
bers or  bad  arrangement,  served  by  their  failure  only 
to  encourage  a  wanton  destruction  of  property.  Their 
forces  now  became  alarming,  not  less  from  its  numbers 
than  from  its  arms  and  ammunition  with  which  it  was 
supplied.  The  peculiar  situation  of  the  whole  of  that 
portion  of  our  coast,  rendered  access  to  them  difficult, 
while  the  numerous  creeks  and  water  courses  through 
the  marshes  around  the  island,  furnished  them  easy 
opportunities  to  plunder,  not  only  the  planters  in  open 
day,  but  the  inland  coasting  trade  also  without  leaving 
a  trace  of  their  movements  by  which  they  could  be 
pursued. 

130 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

"There  was  but  one  more  stage  to  a  state  of  things 
altogether  intolerable:  to  prevent  which  I  felt  it  my 
duty  to  use  the  public  force  and  the  public  money.  I 
therefore  ordered  Major-General  Youngblood  to  take 
the  necessary  measures  for  suppressing  them,  and 
authorized  him  to  incur  the  necessary  expenses  of  such 
an  expedition.  This  was  immediately  executed.  By  a 
judicious  employment  of  the  militia  under  his  command, 
he  either  captured  or  destroyed  the  whole  body. 

"The  other  event  happened  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Camden.  It  appears  that  a  scheme  for  organizing  in- 
surrection among  the  slaves  had  been  for  years  con- 
templated by  a  few  desperate  characters.  They  had 
nearly  matured  their  plans  when  a  communication  of 
them  was  made,  in  the  latter  part  of  June  last  to  a 
faithful  servant  belonging  to  a  gentleman  in  that  neigh- 
borhood. By  him  I  was  immediately  advised  of  the 
plot,  whereupon  I  directed  one  of  my  aides,  Lieut.  Col. 
James  Chesnut,  to  adopt  such  a  course  that  would  lead 
to  a  satisfactory  knowledge  of  their  whole  project  but 
to  its  effectual  prevention.  His  measures  corresponded 
with  my  confidence.  They  were  as  successful  as  they 
were  judicious.  Through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
good  servant  alluded  to,  he  carried  on  a  counter  plot  by 
which  he  was  enabled  to  procure  ample  testimony  to 
convict  the  principals  without  resorting  to  the  evidence 
of  the  servant  who  made  the  first  disclosure,  and  seize 
all  who  were  implicated,  before  the  slightest  suspicion 
of  their  guilt  was  entertained  by  any  one,  except  those 
engaged  with  him  to  prevent  it.  They  were  imme- 
diately delivered  up  to  the  civil  authority  and  have  all 
been  punished  except  one  whom  the  court  pardoned. 

"The  time  has  passed  when  all  our  feelings  were  excited 

131 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

in  relation  to  militia  draughts  by  the  general  govern- 
ment. We  then  saw  the  efficiency  of  our  institutions 
paralyzed,  the  public  order  threatened,  'the  veil  of  the 
temple'  of  the  constitution  'rent  in  twain.'  Yet  the 
redeeming  spirit  of  the  people  without  disorder  or  com- 
motion, patiently  struggled  through  the  difficulties. 
The  period  has  now  come,  when  we  can  deliberately 
and  without  passion  and  prejudice  review  the  progress 
of  events,  whether  it  be  necessary  by  timely  provision 
to  guard  against  similar  occurrences  in  the  future.  It 
can  scarcely  be  denied  that  a  power  ought  to  be  lodged 
somewhere  competent  to  call  out  the  physical  force  of 
the  nation  in  national  emergencies.  However  inex- 
pedient and  dangerous  it  would  be  to  strip  the  state 
government  of  all  authority  over  the  militia  and  vest  it 
exclusively  in  the  general  government,  it  can  be  neither 
to  give  to  this  list  complete  power  over  it,  for  the  spe- 
cial purposes  enumerated  in  the  constitution.  Such  a 
power  appears  to  be  a  necessary  attribute  of  sovereignty 
and  essential  to  its  preservation.  .  .  .  Whatever 
may  be  the  political  character  of  Congress  it  ought  to 
have  full  and  entire  power  'to  provide  for  the  calling 
forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  sup- 
press insurrection,  and  repel  invasion.'" 

These  last  words  mean  more  than  a  casual  reading 
would  glean  from  them.  In  January,  1812,  the  regular 
army  was  increased  to  35,000  men  by  an  Act  of  Con- 
gress; in  February  the  President  was  authorized  to  call 
out  50,000  volunteers  to  be  officered  by  the  state  gov- 
ernments. A  third  act  authorized  the  President  to 
call  for  100,000  militia.  The  governments  of  Connecti- 
cut, Rhode  Island,  and  Massachusetts  refused  to  heed 
the  call,  and  were  sustained  by  the  state  courts.     The 

132 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts  decided  that  not  the 
President  but  the  governors  of  the  states  had  the  right 
to  decide  whether  there  was  any  necessity  to  call  out  the 
militia  to  execute  the  laws,  or  to  suppress  insurrection 
or  to  repel  invasion. 

Governor  Williams  learned  in  Congress  how  difficult 
it  was  to  perfect  a  militia  system.  One  of  his  best 
measures,  the  provision  which  made  the  militia  subject 
to  the  orders  of  the  President,  was  lost  on  the  last  ballot 
by  the  absence  of  seven  men  who  favored  it  and  thus  by 
the  opposition  of  many  and  the  indifference  of  a  few, 
the  general  government  could  not  act  energetically. 
The  President  called  for  470,000  militia  during  the  war, 
but  not  more  than  30,000  are  said  to  have  been  in  the 
service  at  one  time.  General  Williams,  however,  had 
no  reason  to  rate  below  par  the  militia  in  his  own  state 
and  in  General  Pinckney's  military  district.  Its  im- 
provement seemed  to  him  to  be  of  the  first  importance. 
To  his  way  of  viewing  the  compact  between  the  states, 
the  course  of  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  and  Massa- 
chusetts, and  in  the  next  year,  Vermont,  was  unpatriotic 
and  a  rending  "the  veil"  of  the  Constitution.  He  saw 
in  the  militia  the  support  of  the  state  sovereignties  and 
also  the  defence  of  the  general  government  against 
foreign  enemies.  He  went  into  the  war  believing  that 
the  President  ought  to  have  the  power  to  call  out  the 
militia,  and  he  came  out  of  it  strengthened  in  the  same 
opinion;  but  it  was  left  to  another  son  of  Carolina  to 
accomplish  at  Washington  what  could  not  be  done  by 
one  state.  Mr.  Calhoun  became  Secretary  of  War  in 
1817,  and  to  his  fertile  mind  was  due  a  change  in  the 
army  regulations  which  is  still  in  force,  viz. :  the  keeping 
of  a  small  standing  army  well-drilled  and  officered  to  be 

133 


THE  LIFE  AND   LEGACY  OF 

augmented  by  volunteers  in  time  of  war.  Before  his 
time,  Congress  had  refused  to  vote  a  standing  army,  so 
jealous  was  that  body  of  the  liberty  of  the  people,  but 
after  the  experiences  of  1812,  the  same  body  has  always 
supported  a  standing  army.  It  was  used  by  the  Con- 
gresses, 1868-76,  to  subvert  the  liberty  of  the  Southern 
people,  but  when  their  representatives  got  back  into 
Congress  they  were  so  embittered,  said  a  United  States 
general,  "that  one  of  their  first  and  most  insistent  poli- 
cies was  to  demand  a  reduction  of  the  standing  army, 
and  under  this  pressure  the  strength  was  fixed  and  re- 
mained at  25,000  till  the  Spanish  War  began." 

Governor  Williams  had  been  in  the  public  service 
from  1805  to  1817,  excepting  two  years.  He  was  near 
the  close  of  his  fortieth  year  when  he  went  back  to  his 
farm  to  resume  the  toga  and  pursue  the  arts  of  peace. 
He  entered  politics  with  no  previous  practical  training, 
but  he  was  full  grown  in  his  convictions  and  unchanging 
in  his  creed.  He  was  not,  therefore,  a  good  party  man 
who  exchanged  his  own  conscience  for  a  corporate  one 
when  an  exigency  demanded  it. 

He  made  it  known  early  in  his  career  that  he  would 
never  vote  to  tax  one  state  to  build  roads,  make  internal 
improvements  or  protect  the  industries  of  another,  and 
he  adhered  to  the  doctrine  when  he  was  himself  a  manu- 
facturer. He  was  eminently  fair  to  others  and  wished 
no  individual  or  political  advantage  over  other  men  or 
communities.  He  was  for  peace  on  honorable  terms 
and,  accordingly,  favored  the  embargo  because  it  bore 
down  equally  on  all  classes  and  sections;  but  when  one 
section  of  the  country  through  its  representatives 
claimed  that  "interest"  alone  held  the  confederation 
together,  his  repugnance  to  such  sentiments  drew  from 

134 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

him  a  confession  which  showed  that  he  belonged  to  an- 
other school:  "To  me  the  embargo  always  appeared  a 
blessing  to  this  country.  True  it  has  always  operated 
to  prevent  us  from  making  money,  but  that  was  all  that 
was  injurious  in  its  operation;  and,  sir,  I  was  so  much  a 
fool,  had  so  little  knowledge  of  human  nature,  as  to 
believe  that  there  was  patriotism  enough,  love  of  coun- 
try enough  in  the  nation  to  induce  its  freemen  to  be  will- 
ing to  abstain  from  making  money  for  the  good  of  the 
nation!"  It  was  one  of  those  painful  shocks  which 
startle  unsophisticated  and  well-reared  youths  when  it 
dawns  on  them  that  a  lower  moral  temperature  abounds 
outside  the  paternal  roof. 

Fortunately,  as  Governor,  he  was  enabled  to  raise 
again  his  opinion  of  his  fellowmen  as  political  and 
martial  animals.  When  he  was  called  from  the  ox-team 
to  lay  hold  the  helm  of  state,  he  found  his  countrymen 
willing  to  abstain  from  making  money  for  a  season  and 
even  to  spend  what  was  already  made  in  the  service  of 
the  state  and  nation.  At  the  very  time  the  Hartford 
convention  was  sitting  with  closed  doors  and  deliber- 
ating about  withdrawing  from  the  Union  while  it  was  in 
a  serious  war,  the  state~bT]Soutn~Carolina  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  its  Governor  lent  the  United  States  $260,000 
and  called  out  a  brigade  of  militia  in  addition  and 
emptied  its  arsenals  for  the  benefit  of  the  general 
government,  and  voted  $50,000  for  further  fortifications. 
He  found  the  people  to  be  of  one  mind.  The  external 
pressure  of  the  enemy  made  the  harmonious  working 
together  of  all  parties  an  illustration  of  Plato's  idea  of 
the  best  government.  In  his  Republic  he  likens  it  to 
the  human  body,  in  which  are  many  parts,  and  so 
coordinated  and  sympathetic  that  when  a  foot  or  hand 

135 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

or  any  part  is  pained,  the  whole  body  feels  interested 
in  bringing  relief.  Capacity,  energy,  honesty,  unsel- 
fishness, whole-souledness  in  the  leaders  who  come  to 
serve,  call  out  a  like  spirit  in  the  body  of  the  people. 
It  was  indeed  an  hour  to  be  remembered  when  the  Cin- 
cinnati of  Society  Hill,  Governor  Williams,  finished 
his  work  and  prepared  to  return  to  his  farm  and  family, 
having  seen  the  flames  of  the  war  he  had  helped  to 
kindle,  extinguished  with  honor  to  his  country  and  with 
greater  security  for  the  future.  He  represented  the 
Welsh  civilization  which  grew  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Pedee  and  extended  through  him  its  happiest  influence 
to  the  halls  of  congress  and  to  the  state's  executive  de- 
partment. The  truly  great  are  always  humble  in  the 
hour  of  victory,  and  such  was  the  retiring  executive's 
feelings,  as  he  laid  aside  his  official  robes,  conscious  of 
integrity  and  of  patriotic  devotion  to  the  state  and  gen- 
eral government.  The  closing  words  of  his  message 
sounded  like  a  psean  of  victory,  a  song  of  thanksgiving 
and  a  call  to  duty : 

"You  are  assembled,  fellow-citizens,  under  the  most 
propitious  political  circumstances.  The  peace  of  the 
nation  undisturbed,  its  character  elevated  and  revered 
abroad,  the  empire  of  the  laws  perfect  at  home — blessed 
with  a  government  instituted  by  the  people,  and  ad- 
ministered for  their  benefit;  which  like  the  atmosphere 
pervades  everything,  yet  is  nowhere  felt,  secured  alike 
in  the  full  exercise  of  our  religion  and  our  civil  rights, 
enjoying  all  the  happiness  of  legal  liberty — the  poor 
educated,  the  educated  happy,  the  people  virtuous 
and  everywhere  industrious,  prosperous  and  contented. 
That  such  a  rich  stream  of  blessing  should  be  poured 

136 


DAVID   ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

out  to  us,  at  a  time  when  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  are 
made  to  eat  the  bread  of  bitterness  and  sorrow,  calls 
for  the  most  grateful  and  earnest  thanksgivings  to  the 
great  author  of  every  good.  Under  such  circumstances 
you  have  come  up  to  the  appointed  house  of  the  people, 
with  none  but  dispositions  faithfully  to  do  the  work  of 
them  who  sent  you,  in  which  may  you  be  so  enlightened 
with  that  'wisdom  which  is  from  above'  that  all  your 
acts  may  advance  your  personal  character  and  the  pub- 
lic good. 

"David  R.  Williams." 

Sources:  General  Williams  Diary,  O'Neall's  Bench 
and  Bar,  Thomas'  Reminiscences,  Scribner's  Magazine, 
September  and  October,  1901.  The  extract  from  the 
rare  Genuine  Book  of  Nullification  was  furnished  by 
Professor  Yates  Snowden. 


137 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE    FACTORY 

PROMINENCE  has  been  given  to  General  Wil- 
liams' connection  with  politics,  and  it  is  to  con- 
tinue to  be  important  to  the  end;  but  before  that 
limit  is  reached,  other  phases  of  his  activity  must  be  out- 
lined, as  fruitful  branches  growing  out  of  the  main  trunk, 
until  the  whole  life,  rounded  and  finished,  may  present 
to  view  somewhat  of  its  own  symmetry  and  proportion. 
It  was  his  good  fortune  to  enter  life  well  endowed  by 
nature  and  to  find  a  large  part  of  an  extensive  estate 
awaiting  his  arrival  at  years  of  maturity;  and  it  also 
happened  that  his  stay  at  school  in  New  England  and 
his  terms  in  Congress  synchronized  with  the  origin  and 
first  twenty  years'  growth  of  the  cotton  spinning  indus- 
try of  that  section.  The  first  mill  was  built  in  Rhode 
Island  in  1790  and  according  to  Gallatin's  statistics 
the  second  was  built  in  1795,  and  the  third  and  fourth 
were  finished  in  Massachusetts  by  1804.  In  the  next 
three  years,  ten  more  were  in  operation  in  Rhode  Island 
and  one  in  Connecticut,  making  fifteen  in  all  before 
1808.  At  that  time  there  were  about  8,000  spindles, 
producing  about  300,000  pounds  of  yarn.  The  Embargo 
Act  was  in  force  in  1808  and  caused  capital  engaged  in 
commerce  to  seek  other  investments.  By  the  beginning 
of  1811,  eighty-seven  mills  were  erected  or  begun  in 

138 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

New  England,  which  were  to  contain  80,000  spindles 
and  produce  yarn  worth  $3,240,000.  Congressman 
Williams  was  cognizant  of  all  these  developments,  but 
it  is  not  probable  that  he  entertained  any  serious  idea  of 
becoming  a  manufacturer  before  the  debate  in  the 
House  in  1808,  in  which  he  ventured  to  say  that  cotton 
raising  was  more  productive  than  anything  else  he  had 
ever  heard  of.  He  had  been  selling  cotton  at  an  aver- 
age of  28  cents  per  pound;  but  the  same  disturbance 
which  ruined  commerce  also  destroyed  the  cotton 
market.  "Where  is  the  cotton  crop  of  1810?"  he  asked 
in  a  speech  of  1812,  and  answered:  "A  curse  to  him  who 
meddled  with  it.  Where  is  that  of  1811?  Rotting  at 
home  on  the  hands  of  the  growers,  awaiting  Orders  in 
Council  to  be  revoked." 

The  earlier  cotton  mills  had  grown  up  spontaneously, 
in  some  instances  as  the  fruitage  of  skill  brought  over 
from  the  old  country.  It  was  a  day  of  individuality 
and  personal  initiative.  There  was  no  common  centre 
around  which  they  clustered  and  no  common  impulse 
to  bring  them  into  existence,  before  foreign  entangle- 
ments called  forth  the  Embargo  Act,  and  gave  to  enter- 
prising and  patriotic  men,  keenly  sensitive  to  politics,  a 
double  motive  in  becoming  manufacturers — the  desire 
to  share  in  the  profit  of  turning  cheap  cotton  into  high- 
priced  cloth,  and  to  contribute  to  the  economic  inde- 
pendence of  the  country.  In  July,  1812,  this  sentiment 
found  expression  at  a  banquet  in  Greenville  District: 
"  An  inexhaustible  source  of  independence.  The  rising 
manufactures  of  the  United  States  in  lieu  of  British 
goods."  In  this  period  were  erected  the  South  Caro- 
lina Homespun  Company  of  Charleston*  (1808),  an- 

•Kohn's  "Cotton  Mills  in  South  Carolina." 

139 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

other  in  Greenville  District  and  third  in  Sumter  District. 
The  one  on  Cedar  Creek  was  built,  it  is  generally  agreed, 
in  1812,  and  kept  in  operation  not  far  from  half  a  cen- 
tury. His  own  forests  and  sawmills  were  at  hand  to 
furnish  whatever  was  needed  in  the  wood  line,  and  his 
own  carpenters  were  competent  for  the  work  of  erecting 
the  frame  building,  50  or  60  x  120  to  200,  as  additions 
were  made  to  the  five-story  structure.  Weeks  were 
consumed  in  the  time  of  the  blockade  in  hauling  the 
machinery  by  land.  When  it  was  ready  for  use,  a  super- 
intendent brought  from  the  North  managed  the  mill 
and  trained  the  negro  operatives.  (C.  D.  Evans.)  At 
a  later  time  the  superintendent  was  a  full-blooded 
negro.     (DuBose.) 

Absence  in  the  service  of  his  country  was  a  hindrance 
to  all  his  financial  interests;*  but  his  tact  in  organizing 
his  forces,  even  when  absent,  brought  good  results. 
Diocletian  preferred  the  pleasure  of  raising  cabbages  to 
the  honor  of  governing  the  Roman  empire.  General 
Williams  regarded  it  a  great  misfortune  to  be  elected 
governor,  at  a  time  when  his  plantations  and  enterprises 
demanded  his  supervision;  but  he  yielded  and,  depart- 
ing from  the  precedent  set  by  Cincinnatus,  of  letting  his 
little  field  lie  fallow,  he  continued  his  work  through 
overseers  and  superintendents. 

The  encouragement  given  the  enterprise  by  the  public 
was  sufficient  to  cause  the  proprietors,  Williams  and 
Matthews,  to  multiply  the  number  of  spindles  three- 
fold. The  Columbia  Telescope,  quoted  in  Kohn's 
"Water  Powers  of  South  Carolina,"  stated  in  March, 
1816:  "His  excellency,  Governor  Williams,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Matthews,  has  erected  in  the  vicinity  of 

*While  acting  as  Governor  his  new  sawmill  was  burnt  down,  May,  191 5.     (Botsford.) 

140 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Society  Hill  a  manufactory  for  spinning  cotton  yarn. 
The  number  of  spindles  at  present  employed  is  three  or 
four  hundred;  but  the  works  are  now  enlarging  and  it 
is  expected  a  thousand  spindles  or  upwards  will  be  in 
motion  in  course  of  the  present  year.  This  establish- 
ment so  honorable  to  the  founders,  promises,  we  are  glad 
to  hear,  a  handsome  remuneration  of  profit.  .  .  . 
Cotton  could  with  advantage  be  exchanged  for  yarns, 
as  it  is  now  almost  universally  done  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Society  Hill." 

To  facilitate  trade  a  store  was  opened  in  connection 
with  the  factory  under  the  firm  name  of  Bruce  and 
Williams,  but  it  must  be  left  undecided  whether  the 
surplus  yarn  went  down  the  river  to  Georgetown  and 
other  places,  or  was  retailed  by  wagoners  in  the  inland 
nooks  and  corners,  as  was  done  in  the  Piedmont  section. 
The  lack  of  facilities  for  distributing  the  products  kept 
the  mills  small  or  caused  them  to  shut  down  a  part  of 
the  time.  There  were  other  serious  drawbacks  in  the 
mill  industry.  Three  panics  occurred  in  fourteen  years, 
and  the  price  of  the  staple  in  the  earlier  years  made  cot- 
ton raising  more  profitable  than  turning  it  into  thread. 

About  the  same  time  General  Williams  was  enlarging 
his  plant,  four  emigrants  from  near  Providence,  Rhode 
Island,  Leonard  and  George  Hill,  Wm.  B.  Sheldon  and 
John  Clark,*  came  to  Spartanburg  District  and  erected 
a  factory,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present  manu- 
facturing industry.  In  1819,  an  orphan  boy,  William 
Bates,  came  to  the  state  from  Pawtucket,  Rhode  Island, 
and  became  the  first  mill  builder  in  Greenville  District. 
These  all  may  be  considered  as  the  war  cotton  mills  and 
among  the  last  valuable  contributions  from  Rhode 

*Landrum's  "History  of  Spartanburg  County." 

141  ' 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Island.  The  debt  is  large  but  it  is  partly  cancelled  by 
the  evil  which  came  along  with  the  good.  Importa- 
tions of  mm  from  that  diminutive  commonwealth  and 
of  raw  recruits  from  Africa  must  be  put  down  as  minus 
quantities  in  the  equation  (Chapter  III);  but  educa- 
tionally (Chapter  V)  and  industrially  her  help  was 
timely,  beneficial  and  of  permanent  value.  Occasion- 
ally epidemics  of  measles  or  fever  disturbed  the  mill 
management,  although  one  of  the  best  physicians  in  the 
state  had  charge  of  the  health  department  on  the 
plantations  and  at  the  factory.  On  the  7th  of  October, 
1820,  General  Williams  wrote  to  a  friend:  "The  past 
season  with  us  has  been  in  most  places  extremely 
sickly,  though  not  fatally.  A  few  deaths  only  have 
occurred.  The  type  of  fever  has  been  very  mild  and 
in  no  instance,  to  my  knowledge,  when  assailed  with  a 
vigorous  course  of  medicine  at  first,  has  proved  fatal. 
The  eastern  part  of  Society  Hill  now  completely  exposed 
to  the  river,  has  been  extremely  insalubrious — the  wet 
part  and  on  both  sides  of  Cedar  Creek  for  five  miles 
down  the  range  of  sand  hills  to  Centre  Hall,  have  been 
as  healthy  as  the  Warm  Spring  Mountain,  and  not  a 
case  of  fever  within  the  limits  has  occurred."  The 
next  two  summers  were  classed  as  sickly  and  they  were 
succeeded  by  half  a  dozen  healthful  years. 

Cotton  came  down  to  9  cents  in  1826  and  the  speed 
of  the  mill  had  also  been  slackened.  In  his  "Statistics 
of  1826, "  Mills,  who  had  chances  to  get  his  facts  from 
headquarters,  said:  "During  the  war,  a  very  extensive 
cotton  factory  was  established  by  General  Williams 
which  did  very  well  during  the  Non-intercourse  Act; 
but  when  trade  opened  again  the  employment  of  the 
hands  was  more  profitable  in  raising  cotton  than  in 

142 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

manufacturing  it  into  cloth.  The  factory  is  now 
closed,  domestic  manufacturing  are,  however,  still 
carried  on."  The  partial  suspension  did  not  continue 
long;  for  further  enlargement  in  the  capacity  of  the 
plant  was  made  within  the  next  two  years,  new  stock- 
holders appeared  and  the  name  was  changed  from  the 
Gheraw  Union  Factory  to  the  Union  Manufacturing 
Company  of  South  Carolina.  Machinery  for  making 
coarse  woolens  and  other  articles  was  set  up  before  1829. 
Early  in  that  year  the  mill  was  offering,  in  the  Camden 
Journal,  "Cotton  yarns,  cotton  bagging,  twine,  cotton 
oznaburgs,  cotton  bagging  and  negro  winter  clothing. " 
They  were  made  of  "Cotton  of  the  firmest  staple. 
Customers  can  have  their  yarns  warped  into  webs  of 
any  length  and  width  they  may  desire. " 

In  the  Columbia  Telescope,  the  editorial  commenting 
on  the  mill  gives  the  General's  political  latitude  and 
longitude  in  this  unsettled  year:  "General  Williams 
will  make  a  thorough  experiment  on  the  capacity  of 
slave  labor  for  manufacturing.  If  it  shall  be  successful 
and  large  capital  be  invested  in  this  way,  we  may  ex- 
pect an  immediate  repeal  of  the  tariff.  Our  northern 
brethren  will  no  more  consent  to  the  competition  of  our 
manufactures  than  to  that  of  Europe.  We  are  well 
satisfied  that  whatever  direction  may  be  given  to  the 
capital  and  labor  of  the  South,  if  it  is  successful,  will  be 
legislated  upon  for  the  advantage  of  the  North,  without 
the  slightest  compunction  for  the  injury  it  may  bring 
us.  This  is  the  settled  policy  of  the  majority. "  In  1832 
and  1833,  the  Saluda  and  Vaucluse  factories  began  to 
attract  attention.  They  also  used  negro  labor,  influ- 
enced no  doubt  by  the  example  and  success  of  the  mill 
on   Cedar  Creek  whose  proprietor  with   Col.  James 

143 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Chesnut  and  others  found  the  experiment  successful. 
The  Northern  Superintendent  of  the  Saluda  surprised 
the  public  with  the  announcement  that  the  negro  oper- 
atives were  capable  and  $41  cheaper  than  the  white 
laborer  per  year.  In  August  following,  General  Williams 
retired  to  Rocky  River  Springs,  a  summer  retreat  some 
thirty  miles  above  Cheraw.  It  was  a  sickly  season  in 
which  the  mill  president's  mind  was  divided  between 
anxiety  for  the  health  of  the  superintendent  with  the  oper- 
atives, and  concern  about  increasing  the  capacity  of  the 
mill.  In  writing  to  his  friend,  Col.  James  Chesnut,  then 
at  Philadelphia,  General  Williams  mentioned  the  sickness 
of  his  wife,  sister  and  her  grandchildren,  and  added : 

"  I  tremble  for  the  effects  of  a  dry  September.  .  .  . 
We  are  here  with  very  little  company.  The  place  has 
been  well  attended  during  the  last  six  healthy  years; 
but  now  that  every  indication  is  against  health  even 
life,  there  are  few.  It  seems  as  tho'  it  is  useless  to  fight 
against  destiny.  ...  I  shall  visit  the  factory  once 
each  fortnight.  Having  arranged  everything  before  I 
left,  I  hope  it  will  progress  properly  and  believe  it  will 
unless  Mr.  Hopkins  shall  be  taken  sick;  that  is  the  only 
circumstance  I  cannot  hedge  around.  Should  this 
happen,  I  see  no  other  better  course  than  to  stop  spin- 
ning till  his  recovery.  It  has  given  me  much  uneasi- 
ness, indeed  it  is  the  only  circumstance  connected  with 
it  that  does.  Every  circumstance  at  my  departure  was 
what  I  wished,  and  help  had  begun  to  be  familiar  with 
our  wool  business  that  was  getting  on  well.  None  had 
arrived  from  below  nor  could  any  prior  to  the  middle 
of  September,  if  then.  You  may  calculate  on  600  yards 
of  negro  winter  clothes.  Be  pleased  to  inquire  the 
prices  for  each  set  of  (illegible)  harness,  whether  they 

144 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

are  made  with  worsted  and  cotton  harness.  Also  the 
different  prices  of  such  woolen  goods  as  are  applicable 
to  negro  clothes.  If  you  should  stumble  on  a  machine 
shop  either  in  Philadelphia  or  Patterson,  I  wish  you  to 
price  for  [me]  looms  to  weave  42  inches  wide  and  cotton 
and  wool  cards  each.  Our  friends  below  here  authorized 
me  to  get  as  many  more  as  I  deem  necessary,  as  the 
crops  are  gone  (in  the  great  freshet).  I  vote  for  only  4 
more  looms  and  one  (illegible)  card.  This  I  understand 
you  to  consent  to.  My  .  .  .  had  no  allusion  to  any- 
thing but  looms  and  the  necessary  equipage  belonging 
to  them.  Your  woman,  Mary,  promises  well  as  a 
weaver.  Not  a  fire  had  occurred  at  the  Factory,  but 
the  damn  measles  had  broke  out  at  least.  Any  infor- 
mation you  may  pick  up  in  the  factory  line,  any  hint 
you  will  give,  will  be  very  acceptable  to  your  friend, 

"D.  R.  Williams." 

The  freshet  of  this  month  had  greatly  damaged  the 
corn  and  cotton  crops  on  the  Pee  Dee,  but,  notwith- 
standing, the  immense  crop  of  more  than  one  million 
bales  had  depressed  the  price  of  the  fleecy  staple. 
Farmers  and  planters  with  their  usual  stoicism  were 
apathetic  and  disposed  to  endure  what  they  could  not 
mend;  but  in  this  his  last  full  year  on  earth,  General 
Williams  xhibited  no  little  interest  and  energy  in  the 
service  of  his  fellow-planters.  A  letter  addressed  to  a 
government  official  speaks  for  itself : 

"Society  Hill,  Sept.  23,  1829. 
"  To  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy: 

"  I  ask  leave  with  this  to  present  you  a  small  sample  of 
cotton  cordage  made  here,  for  bale  rope.     A  pound 

145 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

weight  of  it  makes  so  many  more  feet  in  length  than 
hemp  cordage  of  the  same  size,  it  is  cheaper  at  25  cents 
per  pound  than  hemp  at  12£  cents,  for  the  particular 
purpose  for  which  it  was  manufactured.  A  comparison 
of  prices  with  tarred  cordage  will  of  course  be  much 
more  in  its  favor.  I  think  you  will  admit  that  it  is  a 
beautiful  piece  of  cordage.  If  you  shall  see  proper  to 
test  its  strength  with  new  hemp  rope,  you  will  probably 
find  it  weaker  at  first  but  after  both  have  been  so  long 
exposed  to  the  weather  as  to  render  that  made  of  hemp 
useless,  that  of  cotton  will  probably  be  still  as  good  as 
cordage. 

"Cotton  fishing  lines  have  been  found  more  durable 
than  any  other,  both  in  salt  and  in  fresh  water;  in  the 
form  of  twine,  wrought  into  seines  and  used  in  rivers,  it 
is  alike  superior.  Coarse  shoes  made  of  it  and  subject 
to  the  greatest  exposure  are  much  more  durable  than 
those  made  with  flax  or  hemp.  Perhaps  it  stretches 
too  much  to  be  trusted  for  standing  rigging;  but  for 
running  and  especially  for  light  sails,  it  may  possibly 
prove  superior  to  cordage  made  of  any  other  substance. 
I  have  found  it  to  last  longer  when  served  with  a  coat 
of  warm  tar. 

"How  has  it  happened  that  cotton  cordage  has  not 
been  tried  even  among  our  smaller  craft?  Is  it  not 
wholly  owing  to  a  general  opinion  that  it  is  much  more 
costly?  Such  I  confess  was  mine  until  a  gentleman, 
judging  more  correctly,  ordered  300  weight  of  bale  rope, 
to  be  made  of  cotton  yarns;  for  which  it  has  been  dis- 
covered to  be  the  cheapest  cordage  with  which  we  can 
rope  our  cotton  bales. 

"If,  contrary  to  my  hopes,  it  shall  be  judged  unfit 
for  rigging  of  any  kind,  there  is  a  great  variety  of  other 

146 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

purposes  on  shipboard,  for  which  small  cords  are  used, 
to  which  it  may  be  advantageously  applied. 

"I  am  too  well  satisfied  that  your  private  wishes  not 
less  than  your  public  duties  prompt  you  to  the  use  of 
this  great  though  depressed  staple  of  our  common 
country,  to  suppose  it  necessary  to  ask  the  patronage 
of  your  department  for  it. 

"Yours  respectfully, 
[Signed]  "D.  R.  Williams." 


The  reply  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  follows: 

"Navy  Department,  Oct  6,  1829. 

"Sir:  I  have  much  pleasure  in  acknowledging  the  re- 
ceipt of  your  letter  of  the  23rd  ult.,  together  with  a  small 
sample  of  cotton  cordage  made  for  bale  rope.  That 
you  may  be  fully  possessed  of  the  views  of  the  depart- 
ment in  relation  to  this  great  staple  of  our  country  for 
naval  purposes,  I  herewith  transmit  to  you  a  pamphlet 
containing  correspondence  on  the  use  of  cotton  sails  of 
ships  of  war,  &c. 

"The  sample  you  have  sent  me  I  freely  acknowledge 
to  be  a  handsome  piece  of  cordage ;  and  the  information 
you  have  communicated,  in  relation  to  its  strength, 
durability  and  cost,  in  comparison  with  the  same 
article  made  with  hemp  is  very  acceptable.  A  fair 
experiment  shall  be  made  of  cotton  rope  for  such  parts 
of  the  rigging  and  outfits  of  a  ship,  as  appear  most  suit- 
able, from  the  knowledge  at  present  possessed  of  its 
qualities. 

"Your  Obt.  Servant, 
[Signed]  "John  Branch." 

147 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

The  correspondence  continues: 

"Society  Hill,  13  October,  1829. 

"Sir:  I  request  you  will  accept  my  acknowledgements 
for  the  pamphlet  you  were  pleased  to  send  me;  as  also, 
for  your  favour  of  the  5th  inst  in  answer  to  mine  of  the 
23d  ult. 

"Several  gentlemen  having  become  acquainted  with 
the  contents  of  your  letter,  insist  that  it  is  alike  due  to 
the  disposition  you  have  manifested,  as  to  the  subject 
of  your  letter,  that  the  letters  should  be  presented  to 
the  public  through  the  medium  of  the  public  prints; 
avering  that,  both  will  be  very  acceptable  to  the  com- 
munity— certainly  to  those  who  grow,  as  well  as,  to 
those  who  manufacture  cotton.  Notwithstanding  I 
have  not  the  least  doubt  you  would  object  to  such  a 
course,  I  cannot  consider  it  proper  without  your  con- 
sent— and  moreover  have  it  not  in  my  power  to  do 
so.  Having  no  such  purpose  when  I  addressed  you, 
I  kept  no  copy  of  my  letter  to  you.  If  the  subject 
presents  itself  to  your  view,  as  it  has  to  others,  I 
shall  be  pleased  to  have  your  consent  and  a  copy 
of  my  letter  for  that  purpose;  unless  indeed  you  shall 
see  fit  to  allow  them  to  appear  at  once  in  a  Washington 
paper. 

"  It  would  have  been  much  more  agreeable  to  me,  to 
have  sent  you  a  much  larger  sample  of  the  cotton  rope 
but  was  limited  by  the  mode  of  conveyance  &  had  none 
other. 

"Yours  respectfully, 

"David  R.  Williams." 


148 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

"Navy  Department, 
"Oct.  21s/,  1829. 
"Honble  David  R.  Williams,  Society  Hill,  S.  Ca. 

"Sir:  I  have  had  the  honour  to  receive  your  letter 
of  the  13th  instant. 

"Agreeably  to  the  suggestions  contained  in  your 
communication  a  copy  of  your  letter  of  the  23d  ulto  is 
herewith  transmitted,  and  the  publication  of  the  whole 
correspondence  is  cheerfully  submitted  to  your  dis- 
cretion. 

"  I  am  very  respectfully  &c. 

"J.  B." 

"Society  Hill,  31st  October,  1829. 

"Sir:  I  have  pleasure  in  acknowledging  your  polite 
attention  to  my  request  &  return  you  my  thanks  for 
your  obliging  compliance  therewith.  The  copy  of  my 
letter,  said  to  be  transmitted  with  your  last,  being  by 
some  accident  or  inadvertency,  not  sent,  I  am  yet  un- 
able to  avail  myself  of  your  permission  to  give  your 
sentiments  to  the  public  &  fearing  it  may  not  be  per- 
ceived, I  venture  to  state  the  omission,  in  the  hope  you 
will  be  so  good,  as  to  cause  it  to  be  sent. 

"  I  may  have  placed  a  very  erroneous  estimate  on  this 
whole  subject;  as  few  men  are  able  to  discriminate  cor- 
rectly when  self  interest  bears  so  strongly:  all  my  re- 
flection and  additional  facts,  however,  strengthen  this 
error,  if  such  it  be  &  render  it  to  me  the  more  desirable, 
that  fair  experiment  shall  establish  the  truth.  Accord- 
ing to  the  means  in  my  power,  two  attempts  at  experi- 
ment, will  be  made  on  board  of  two  of  the  coasting  ves- 
sels, which  are  employed  between  Georgetown  and 
Charleston.  You  are  fully  aware  how  much  more  sat- 
isfactory any  test  by  your  authority  will  be,  than  those 

149 


THE  LIFE  AND   LEGACY  OF 

attempted  by  any  other  means  &  therefore,  I  hope,  will 
excuse  me  with  you,  for  the  trouble  my  intrusion  on 
you  may  have  given. 

"Yours  Respectfully, 

"David  R.  Williams." 

The  above  letters  were  sent  to  the  Telescope  with  the 
accompanying  remarks:  "It  appears  to  me  there  is 
too  much  apathy  among  the  cotton  growers  generally, 
in  relation  to  the  consumption  of  articles  made  of  that 
material.  I  believe  it  might  be  so  increased  to  affect 
its  price,  if  there  was  a  more  zealous  determination, 
practically  enforced,  on  the  part  of  the  growers  only, 
to  augment  its  use.  Be  this  as  it  may,  I  am  satisfied 
that  a  great  increase  of  consumption,  in  the  form  of 
cordage  may  be  attempted  at  least,  to  the  consumer  as 
to  the  grower  of  the  raw  material.  In  the  early  part  of 
my  life,  I  had  some  intercourse  with  ship,  sailors  and 
rope-makers  and  if  I  have  not  wholly  forgotten  every- 
thing in  relation  to  them,  there  are  only  a  very  few  pur- 
poses, in  which  hemp  cordage  is  applied,  in  which  it 
may  not  be  advantageously  superseded  by  that  of  cot- 
ton. For  every  object  where  greater  strength  is  not 
necessary,  it  is  evidently  more  economical,  at  the  pres- 
ent price  of  yarns,  seeing  the  proportionate  weight  of 
tar,  \y  indispensable  in  the  manufacture  of  one,  is 
wholly  saved  in  the  manufacture  of  the  other.  The 
durability  of  cotton  compared  with  hemp  and  flax  is 
decidedly  inferior  to  the  former.  How  far  this  property 
ought  to  be  counterbalanced  by  the  greater  strength  of 
the  latter  at  first,  is  the  proper  subject  of  experiment.  I 
am  sure  no  one  will  rejoice  more  than  yourself  that  Mr. 
Branch  has  promised  a  fair  experiment  shall  be  made  of 
cotton  rope." 

150 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

There  is  nothing  extant  which  shows  in  a  clearer  light 
General  Williams'  method  of  arriving  at  conclusions. 
"Whatever  system  I  adopt,  I  want  to  go  up  to  the  hub 
with  it,"  was  one  of  his  sayings,  and  after  he  had  gone 
up  to  the  hub  with  it,  he  passed  over  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  and  to  the  public,  the  results  of  his  investi- 
gations, in  the  hope  that  further  experiment  at  Wash- 
ington and  less  apathy  at  home  might  open  new  avenues 
for  the  consumption  of  cotton.  "The  thanks,"  said  the 
editor  of  the  Telescope,  "are  due  General  Williams  for 
the  enterprise,  perseverance,  industry  and  public  spirit 
with  which  he  has  attempted  to  revive  in  some  degree 
the  drooping  energies  of  this  state,  which  ought  to  unite 
the  common  exertions  of  every  citizen." 

These  authentic  letters  reveal  the  mill  situation  in 
1829  and  the  man  behind  it.  The  slave  had  been  on 
trial  sixteen  years  as  a  mill  worker,  and  it  is  to  his  credit 
that  not  a  word  of  disparagement  is  uttered;  but  on  the 
contrary,  "Every  thing  on  my  departure  was  what  I 
wished  and  help  had  begun  to  be  familiar  with  the  wool 
business  that  was  getting  on  well"  was  his  testimony. 
The  help  was  already  familiar  with  the  cotton  business, 
and  so  expert  had  it  become  in  making  cordage  that 
along  with  the  sample  sent  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
went  the  message:  "I  think  you  will  pronounce  it  a 
beautiful  piece  of  cordage."  This  implied  efficiency  of 
the  slave  expressed  thirty-six  years  before  emancipation 
is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  scientific  conclusions  of 
a  Northern  writer*  forty-seven  years  after  that  event. 

*An  intelligent  sojourner  in  the  sunny  South  softened  or  discounted  Copeland's 
judgment  about  the  negroes  by  saying,  "They  were  not  used  as  factory  operatives 
while  slaves."  Yes,  they  were,  and  were  pronounced  equal  to  the  whites.  With 
apparent  incredulity  came  the  reply,  "Your  writers  have  never  mentioned  it."  An 
examination  of  De  Bow's  "Review  of  1847,  '850  and  1852"  will  satisfy  any  one  on 

151 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Without  any  reverence  for  the  shades  of  Thaddeus 
Stevens  and  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  and  without  any 
fear  of  infringing  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  he  brushes 
aside  the  ten  million  negroes  as  an  impossible  source  of 
mill  laborers  of  the  future,  requiring,  as  he  thinks,  more 
supervision  than  the  labor  is  worth. 

The  influence  of  an  early  cotton  mill  was  local;  if  it 
was  a  financial  success  in  a  region  where  water  falls 
were  abundant,  other  mills  went  up.  In  the  more  level 
Pee  Dee,  the  first  offspring  of  the  Cedar  Creek  factory, 
was  Burnt  Factory  in  Marlboro,  but  it  exerted  influ- 
ence in  other  ways.  It  was  perhaps  the  first  mill  which 
secured  the  aid  of  capital  from  Charleston  and  started 
uphill  a  stream  which  has  done  more  for  the  state  than 
the  Santee  Canal  ever  did  for  Charleston.  General 
Williams  must  also  be  considered  the  prototype  of  the 
best  mill  presidents.  He  escaped  in  the  Society  Hill 
atmosphere  the  narrowing  effects  of  the  planter's  life, 
seen  in  intense  individuality  and  aversion  to  partner- 
ships and  corporations  in  which  the  control  of  one's 
property  passes  over  to  others.  Agricultural  conditions 
were  very  favorable  to  the  growth  of  character,  but  not 
for  diversified  industry  whose  profits  often  exceed  those 
of  farming.  Politically  he  stood  on  the  platform  enun- 
ciated before  Calhoun  entered  Congress:  "I  am  for 
keeping  the  manufacturer  on  the  same  footing  as  the 
agriculturist.  ...  I  can  consent  to  no  additional 
imposition  of  duty  by  way  of  bounty  to  one  description 
of  persons  at  the  expense  of  another  equally  meritori- 
ous." 

this  point  so  far  as  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Georgia  and  Florida  are  concerned. 
Mr.  August  Kohn's  works  are  authoritative  also.  Copeland  was  on  a  scientific,  not  a 
philanthropic,  errand.  The  unpalatable  fact  must  be  accepted  that  freedom  lessened 
the  value  of  negroes  as  laborers  in  the  first  fifty  years. 

152 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Being  in  opposition  to  the  tariff  and  to  the  extreme 
remedy  proposed,  he  saw  a  bare  possibility  of  repealing 
the  tariff  by  the  use  of  slave  labor  in  competition  with 
Northern  operatives.  In  the  cotton  field,  the  negro 
worked  for  the  American  and  English  manufacturers, 
but  as  a  mill  hand  he  would  become  a  competitor.  In 
the  light  of  later  opinions,  General  Williams  had  dis- 
covered a  powerful  weapon  for  Southern  self-defence. 
It  was  declared  some  years  later  that  it  was  not  phi- 
lanthropy but  fear  of  slave  competition  in  manufactur- 
ing cotton,  which  freed  the  slaves  in  West  Indies  and 
caused  certain  machinations  against  the  annexation  of 
Texas.  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  furnished  to  the  mill 
operatives  in  England,  was  thought  by  Charles  Francis 
Adams  to  have  defeated  the  Southern  Confederacy;  but 
no  one  has  investigated  how  much  the  fear  of  slave 
competition  in  a  cotton  Confederacy  was  a  deterrent 
against  the  recognition  of  the  Southern  States.  Eng- 
land is  a  philanthropist  when  her  interest  and  her 
humanity  are  not  at  loggerheads.  There  were  cogent 
reasons,  however,  which  kept  the  negro  in  the  cotton 
field  and  prevented  the  employment  of  any  large  num- 
bers in  factories.  The  continued  additions  of  new 
territory  made  impossible  any  boom  in  manufactures 
before  the  new  lands  were  taken  up.  Wave  after  wave 
of  emigrants — 8,000  annually — went  from  the  state, 
with  their  families  and  possessions.  "Land,  land,  more 
land!"  was  the  cry.  "Give  us  land  and  negroes  and 
we  ask  no  other  favors!"  Those  left  behind  became 
familiar  with  this  doctrine:  "South  Carolina,  from  her 
climate,  situation  and  peculiar  institutions,  is,  and  must 
ever  continue  to  be,  wholly  dependent  upon  agriculture 
and  commerce,  not  only  for  her  prosperity  but  for  her 

153 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

existence,"  and  also  with  the  counter  reply   of  the 
manufacturer:  "Is  it  not  the  part  of  wisdom  and  of  pa- 
triotism to  accommodate  ourselves  to  a  state  of  circum- 
stances which  is  remediless  and  from  which  there  is  no 
escape?"     This  opposition  between  the  people  and  the 
factory  became  tense  after  General  Williams'  death. 
It  did  not  originate  in  South  Carolina.     It  was  felt 
and  expressed  in  England  and  by  no  one  more  tersely 
than  by  Webster  in  1820.     He  and  Calhoun  followed 
the  behest  of  capital  in  their  changes  of  front  on  the 
tariff  issue.     Money  rules.     Cotton  was  a  great  crop 
and  with  negroes  ever  increasing  in  value  the  plantation 
as  an  honorable  and  lucrative  employment  could  have 
no  rival.     "So  commanding  is  this  planting  interest," 
said  an  observant  Georgian,  "so  engrossing  the  slave 
question,  and  into  such  utter  insignificance  have  every 
other  question  and  every  other  pursuit  been  driven, 
that  he  who,  being  in  political  life,  would  publicly 
recommend  a  diversion  of  capital  and  labor  from  plant- 
ing to  manufactures,  is  in  danger  of  being  branded  as  a 
traitor  to  Southern  rights." 

This  belligerent  attitude  was  too  irrational  to  con- 
tinue permanent.  Before  1849  the  South  was  pro- 
viding herself  with  coarse  fabrics  and  shipping  yarn 
and  cloth.  "Doubt  it  who  may,"  said  an  orator  before 
the  South  Carolina  Institute,  "the  South  is  destined 
to  become  the  seat  of  the  cotton  manufacture  of  the 
world.  The  competition  has  been  forced  upon  us  and 
our  people  are  beginning  to  be  thoroughly  aroused  from 
their  apathy."  The  tide,  indeed,  became  more  favor- 
able to  manufacturing  in  the  fifteen  years  before  1860. 
The  state  got  seven  millions  of  dollars  for  her  cotton 
crop;  the  manufacturers  got  fourteen  millions  as  their 

154 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

share  of  the  profits.  One  pound  of  superfine  sea  island 
cotton  brought  less  than  a  dollar,  but  its  value  was 
increased  from  $70  to  $500  in  the  hands  of  the  manufac- 
turer. The  mills  near  Augusta  paid  20  to  30  per  cent, 
dividends;  near  Camden,  15,  and  at  Graniteville,  8  to 
18. 

Governor  Perry's  explanation  of  the  rise  and  subsi- 
dence of  the  feeling  against  manufacturing  was  given 
in  1855  in  a  speech  before  the  most  representative 
gathering  in  the  state:  "Twenty-five  years  ago,  when 
the  Southern  States  were  groaning  beneath  the  exac- 
tions of  a  most  unjust  and  oppressive  tariff,  levied  not 
for  revenue,  but  for  the  purpose  of  fostering  Northern 
manufactures,  the  heart  of  South  Carolina  and  her 
pride  revolted  so  much  at  the  exactions  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government,  that  she  actually,  through  her  public 
men,  discountenanced  all  attempts  to  engage  in  manu- 
factures, for  fear  that  the  system  of  protection  might 
become  less  odious  to  the  people  and  they  would  submit 
and  become  reconciled.  Thanks  to  the  intelligence 
and  justice  of  the  American  people,  the  principles  of 
free  trade  are  now  in  the  ascendant  and  we  have  no 
such  apprehensions  to  scare  us  from  that  line  of  policy 
which  every  people  ought  to  adopt,  of  making  every 
thing  in  their  power  that  they  consume  or  need  in 
peace  or  war."  Slavery  or  no  slavery  the  state  was 
destined  to  become  manufacturing  as  well  as  agricul- 
tural. The  idle  mill  sites,  the  unutilized  water  courses, 
the  cotton  grown  in  adjacent  fields,  and  the  profits 
realized  by  manufacturers,  were  opening  eyes  to  neg- 
lected opportunities. 

As  all  parties  came  out  on  the  hither  side  of  the  Civil 
War,  the  industrial  element  appeared  less  completely 

155 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

exhausted.  The  Commonwealth  has  not  been  able  to 
rear  other  statesmen  of  the  same  large-minded  pattern ; 
nor  have  the  colleges  produced  any  Thornwells,  Car- 
lisles  or  Furmans.  William  Gregg,  H.  P.  Hammett, 
John  H.  Montgomery,  D.  E.  Converse  and  others 
revived  the  cotton  industry  and  with  their  successors 
made  South  Carolina  second  in  the  galaxy  of  manufac- 
turing states  and  invested  with  new  interest  orator 
Lumpkin's  prediction  in  1851  that  the  South  was  des- 
tined to  be  the  seat  of  cotton  manufacture  of  the  world. 

Sources:  The  letter  of  Colonel  Chesnut  was  kindly 
furnished  by  Mr.  David  R.  Williams  of  Camden.  The 
correspondence  between  General  Williams  and  Secre- 
tary Branch  was  obtained  through  the  courtesy  of  the 
present  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Josephus  Daniels.  In 
the  following  will  be  found  interesting  references  to 
manufacturing:  Southern  Quarterly  Review,  January, 
1845,  April,  1846;  Addresses  before  the  South  Carolina 
Institute,  1849,  1851,  and  1856;  Kohn's  Cotton  Mills  in 
South  Carolina,  Copeland's  The  Cotton  Manufactur- 
ing Industry  in  the  United  States,  Landrum's  History 
of  Spartanburg  County,  and  Crittenden's  History  of 
Greenville,  S.  C.  A  Historical  sketch  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  the  cotton  manufactories  of  the  United 
States,  found  in  the  October,  1849,  De  Bow's  Review,  is 
fuller  and  more  accurate  than  Gallatin's  report,  1810. 


156 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  TRANSPORTATION  AND  TRAVEL 

GREAT  problems  were  facing  the  American 
people  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution. 
Among  them  were,  How  to  travel  expedi- 
tiously over  the  vast  extent  of  territory,  and  how  to 
cheapen  the  transportation  of  farm  products  to  mari- 
time markets.  A  youth  who  left  Boston  in  1795  and 
came  to  Charleston  was  surprised  to  see  the  harbor  filled 
with  shipping  of  all  nations,  with  their  flags  flapping  in 
the  breeze,  and  lined  with  numerous  wharves  and  ex- 
tensive blocks  of  well-built  warehouses.  The  men  en- 
gaged in  this  traffic  saw  the  desirability  of  opening 
better  means  of  communication  with  the  immense  back 
country  in  South  and  North  Carolina  and  began  in 
1786  to  lay  plans  to  connect  the  metropolis  with  the 
network  of  rivers  which  combine  to  form  the  Santee. 
At  the  session  of  the  legislature  in  1786  a  charter  was 
granted,  and  in  March  of  that  year  Governor  Moultrie 
was  chosen  president  of  the  corporation,  John  Rutledge, 
vice-president,  and  Stephen  Drayton,  secretary.  Work 
was  begun  in  1793,  and  at  the  end  of  1800  the  first  ship 
passed  down  through  the  canal  to  Charleston. 

As  editor  in  1801-1803,  Mr.  Williams  showed  more 
interest  in  the  farmers'  problems  and  the  waterways 
leading  through  the  canal  than  in  the  stirring  events  of 

157 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Jefferson's  first  administration.  His  remarks  about  the 
first  vessels  reaching  the  city  from  distant  parts  of  the 
upper  country  are  still  entertaining  and  suggestive. 
One  came  from  near  Pinckney  Court  House,  built  on 
the  owner's  land  and  loaded  with  his  own  produce. 
"  When  the  obstructions  of  the  Broad  and  the  Catawba 
shall  be  removed,"  said  he  in  his  enthusiasm,  "the 
superabounding  productions  of  the  upper  country  will 
flow  into  Charleston  in  such  full  tide  and  with  so  much 
expedition  and  so  little  expense  as  will  lower  our  mar- 
kets and  at  the  same  time  fill  the  pockets  of  our  remote 
fellow-citizens.  And  what  will  be  equally  agreeable, 
gentlemen  who  have  so  successfully  and  at  such  great 
expense  ($40,000  per  mile)  completed  the  canal,  will 
possess  a  property  which  while  it  contributed  to  the 
welfare  of  the  state,  will  yield  them  an  income  that  will 
amply  repay  all  that  they  expended  in  the  undertaking 
unequalled  in  the  new  world. " 

A  Mr.  James  Harrison,  who  lived  in  five  miles  of 
Spartanburg,  built  a  boat,  hauled  it  five  miles  to  the 
Pacolet  River,  loaded  it  with  13,000  pounds,  and  with 
four  hands  navigated  it  to  Charleston.  Events  of  this 
kind  made  the  editor  see  visions  of  glorious  prospects 
for  the  farmers  of  the  back  country. 

Wade  Hampton's  boat  also  came  bearing  124  bales 
of  cotton,  weighing  234  pounds  each.  "Twenty  men, 
twelve  wagons  and  forty-eight  horses  would  have  been 
barely  sufficient  for  the  wagonage  of  this  quantity  of 
cotton,  the  difference  in  cost  being  greatly  in  favor  of 
the  water  route."  And  this  he  showed  by  an  elaborate 
calculation. 

A  remarkable  trip  to  Charleston  was  made  by  a  boat 
from  Lincoln  County,  North  Carolina,  which  was  about 

158 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

300  miles  distant  by  land  and  near  600  by  water. 
Twenty-five  bales  of  cotton  and  four  hogsheads  of 
tobacco  were  the  load  thus  conveyed  from  ten  miles 
of  the  mountains  to  Charleston.  The  crew  consisted 
of  one  man  and  an  assistant.  It  is  said  that  during 
nine  months  of  a  prosperous  season  720  boats  brought 
70,000  bales  of  cotton  from  upper  South  Carolina  to 
Charleston  through  the  canal. 

In  1817,  the  first  year  after  General  Williams  re- 
turned to  his  farm,  a  scheme  for  the  improvement  of 
the  navigation  of  the  rivers  in  the  state  was  accepted 
by  the  legislature,  and  $50,000  was  appropriated.  By 
the  fall  of  1818,  the  desire  for  internal  improvement  by 
the  state  having  become  perceptible,  it  caused  the  legis- 
lature to  appropriate  $250,000  for  four  successive  years. 
In  1819  a  Board  of  Public  Works  was  appointed,  of 
which  Joel  R.  Poinsett  and  Abram  Blanding  were  made 
acting  commissioners. 

The  following  anonymous  letter  appeared  in  the  first 
half  of  1819,  written  at  Chatham,  later  Cheraw:  "Un- 
derstanding that  a  number  of  mechanics  calculated  on 
and  are  making  preparations  to  locate  themselves  at 
Chatham,  I  was  induced  to  examine  the  river  from  this 
place  to  Long  Bluff;  previous  to  this  I  had  seen  the  re- 
port of  the  engineer  of  South  Carolina,  where  he  had 
stated  that  the  Pedee  was  navigable  by  boats  drawing 
—  feet  of  water,  as  far  up  as  the  Bluff,  and  this  is  fully 
confirmed  by  General  Williams  who  has  made  the  ex- 
periment in  his  team  boat;  this  with  the  full  affirmation 
of  all  the  patrons  of  the  river,  put  it  beyond  doubt  that 
there  is  four  and  a  half  to  five  feet  water  up  to  Long 
Bluff,  even  at  the  present  low  state  of  the  river.  I  ex- 
amined the  river  from  this  place  to  the  Bluff,  found 

159 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

some  little  difficulty  at  the  falls  and  narrow  passages, 
such  as  trees  lying  over  the  river  and  a  few  logs.  The 
water  was  generally  three  and  a  half  to  four  feet  deep 
in  the  channel,  and  I  soon  discovered  that  the  difficulty 
in  getting  up  and  down  was  not  in  the  river  itself,  but 
in  the  construction  of  the  boat  and  their  bad  manage- 
ment, being  for  the  most  part  wholly  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  blacks.  It  is  now  in  agitation  to  have  tow- 
boats  built  of  sixty  tons,  drawing  three  feet  of  water, 
when  loaded  and  towed  by  steam  boats  as  in  Savannah 
River." 

By  January  1,  1820,  the  Pee  Dee  had  been  cleared 
about  half  its  length  and  was  finished  before  the  close 
of  the  year  by  General  Williams  with  his  squad  of  fifty- 
three  hands,  and  it  was  being  plied  by  steamboats. 
From  July,  1819,  to  July,  1820,  15,192  bales  of  cotton 
went  down  the  Pee  Dee  to  Charleston.  This  was  the 
first  business  year  at  Cheraw.  The  freight  by  land 
per  bale  was  about  $2,  by  water  formerly  $1.25,  now  75 
cents.  "The  teamboat,,,  said  the  American  Farmer, 
December,  1820,  "established  on  that  river  by  our  en- 
terprising and  public  spirited  fellow-citizen,  General 
Williams,  conveys  three  hundred  bales  of  cotton  to 
market,  is  propelled  by  eight  mules  and  navigated  by 
five  hands,  and  performs  a  trip  from  Society  Hill  to 
Georgetown  in  fifteen  days.  This  arrangement  saves 
poorTpeople  the  amount  of  their  taxes  on  one  item,  salt"; 
but  the  teamboat  was  too  slow  to  compete  with  its  rival 
the  steamboat,  which  was  already  on  the  river.  While 
the  clearing  of  the  river  was  going  on,  a  steamboat 
named  the  Pee  Dee  was  being  built  at  Charleston  and 
it  was  able  on  its  trial  trip  to  make  five  miles  per  hour 
against  strong  winds  and  tide. 

160 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

In  February,  1821,  the  Pee  Dee  had  made  its  seventh 
trip  up  and  back  to  Georgetown.  It  carried  each  time  a 
full  load  of  merchandise  and  brought  back  four  or  five 
hundred  bales  of  cotton.  Its  descent  occupied  two  days, 
not  moving  at  night,  and  its  ascent  six  days.  This 
bustling  activity  on  the  Pee  Dee  and  especially  the  city 
that  might  rise  at  the  head  of  navigation  created  a  fear 
in  North  Carolina  lest  Fayetteville  should  be  "done 
over  in  a  commercial  point  of  view."  Cheraw  had 
grown  from  four  or  five  houses  and  about  thirty-five 
persons  in  1819  to  a  population  of  eight  hundred  in 
1823.  The  rapidly  growing  village  was  honored  in 
another  way  in  1825.  LaFayette  visited  the  state  by 
invitation  and  the  deputation  to  receive  him  was  headed 
by  Col.  J.  N.  Williams.  General  Williams  furnished 
the  coach  drawn  by  four  horses  and  rode  with  his  dis- 
tinguished guest.  The  secretary  of  General  LaFayette 
had  this  to  say  of  the  pretty  little  town : 

"Twenty-four  hours  after  our  departure  from  Fay- 
etteville we  were  met,  in  the  midst  of  a  pine  forest,  by 
the  deputation  from  South  Carolina  sent  to  LaFayette. 
This  meeting  took  place  on  the  boundary  of  the  two 
states.  Our  good  and  amiable  travelling  companions 
of  North  Carolina  delivered  us  to  the  care  of  our  neigh- 
bors, showing  lively  expressions  of  regret  at  a  separation 
which  cost  us  as  much  as  themselves ;  and  we  proceeded 
on  our  way  in  new  carriages,  with  a  new  escort  and  new 
friends  to  Cheraw,  a  pretty  little  town,  which  had 
hardly  four  houses  five  years  ago,  and  now  contains 
about  1,500  inhabitants."  A  reception  was  given  to 
their  honored  guest  that  night,  and  General  Williams 
was  selected  to  deliver  the  address  of  welcome. 

"The  route,"  continues  the  secretary,   "which  we 

161 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

had  to  travel  the  next  day  was  long  and  difficult;  often 
indeed  it  was  almost  impassable.  In  some  places,  we 
found  it  entirely  cut  off  by  the  overflowing  of  streams ; 
in  others  we  were  able  to  cross  the  swamps  only  by  mov- 
ing slowly  over  a  causeway  formed  by  trunks  of  trees 
badly  enough  placed  side  by  side.  At  length  we  pro- 
ceeded at  so  slow  a  pace  that  night  overtook  us  on  the 
road  and  it  grew  so  dark  that  many  of  the  horsemen 
belonging  to  the  escort  strayed  from  the  road,  at  a  place 
where  it  was  hardly  traceable  upon  the  sand,  and  lost 
themselves  in  the  forest."  At  some  length  he  tells 
how  his  own  vehicle  broke  down  and  was  late  in  arriving 
at  the  solitary  weatherboarded  house  in  the  forest 
where  both  generals  were  comfortably  quartered  and 
where  all  found  an  excellent  supper  and  good  beds. 

General  Williams  entered  the  State  Senate  in  Decem- 
ber, 1824,  and  was  made  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Internal  Improvements,  where  he  judiciously  shelved 
some  petitions  for  cleaning  out  streams  too  shallow  ever 
to  be  navigable.  Some  $11,050  was  allotted  for  the 
great  Pee  Dee  and  in  December,  1827,  the  House  con- 
curred in  the  resolution  directing  Superintendent  Bland- 
ing  to  survey  and  report  on  certain  works  constructed 
by  General  Williams  on  Big  Pee  Dee.  This  was  the 
closing  period,  too,  of  the  internal  improvements  which 
had  cost  the  state  about  two  million  dollars. 

When  David  R.  Williams  was  at  school  at  Rhode 
Island  College  he  persuaded  his  roommate,  Abram 
Blanding,  to  come  South,  where  he  found  success  and 
honor  awaiting  him.  He  was,  1821-27,  the  superin- 
tendent of  these  expenditures  on  the  public  roads,  canals 
and  rivers,  and  in  the  end  brought  on  himself  some  sharp 
criticisms.     O'Neall  in  his  "Bench  and  Bar"  is  an 

162 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

authority  on  the  subject;  and  General  Williams  in  the 
legislature  palliated  the  mistakes  which  had  been  called 
"a  shameful  waste  of  the  public  money,"  in  this  wise: 
"Be  the  errors  (which  were  unavoidable)  ever  so  great, 
they  are  redeemed,  by  the  high  sense  of  moral  feeling 
which  they  prove;  not  an  individual  concerned  in  them 
has  been  guilty  of  corruption;  and  for  the  cost,  ample 
consolation  may  be  found  in  the  public  motives  on 
which  it  is  bottomed,  and  on  the  public  prosperity 
which  it  advances.  No  splendid  schemes  of  govern- 
mental influence  and  patronage  soiled  the  views  of  those 
who  originated  or  sustained  the  system;  and  surely 
every  patron  will  rejoice  when  he  sees  the  functions  of 
government  exerted  for  their  legitimate  end,  the  good 
of  the  people." 

The  canaling  amounted  to  twenty-five  miles  and  the 
falls  all  told  417  feet.  The  navigation  of  the  streams 
was  extended  over  2,000  miles,  700  of  which  were  navi- 
gable by  steamboats.  Perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  was  spent  opening  new  roads  and  improving 
old  ones,  which  are  still  in  use;  but  the  greater  part  of 
the  expenditure  on  the  rivers  was  rendered  valueless 
as  soon  as  the  iron  horse  began  to  traverse  the  state. 
In  the  " Water  Powers  of  South  Carolina"  (August 
Kohn)  attention  is  directed  to  the  falls,  where  the  costly 
canals  were  built,  as  being  now  "the  basis  of  the  present 
day  wealth  producing  water  power  development,  and 
all  of  it  due  to  individual  effort,  without  state  aid." 
The  excitement  about  these  internal  improvements  was 
called  by  William  Gregg,  of  cotton  factory  renown,  a 
"convulsion."  In  1856,  with  the  announcement  that 
a  charter  of  incorporation  of  a  plank  road  from  Charles- 
ton to  the  mountains  had  been  secured,  he  marshalled 

163 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

his  arguments  in  favor  of  plank  roads  over  against 
macadamized  and  rail  roads.  Mr.  Gregg,  like  General 
Williams  in  the  previous  generation,  was  the  live  man 
of  the  day,  and  was  listened  to  with  marked  attention : 
"  In  looking  back  into  the  history  of  the  last  thirty  years 
in  South  Carolina,  we  find  that  notwithstanding  this 
unpardonable  state  of  things  (rude  bridges  and  impassa- 
ble roads),  the  public  mind  has  occasionally  been  ex- 
cited, and  I  may  say  convulsed  on  this  subject.  The 
mania  for  internal  improvement  which  prevailed  in 
1820  in  this  state  can  be  characterized  by  no  more 
appropriate  term  than  convulsion,  for  in  a  state  of 
feverish  excitement,  she  expended  millions  of  dollars  in 
works  for  which  the  country  was  not  prepared  and  which 
proved  to  be  a  waste  of  money.  The  amount  of  capital 
expended  in  those  useless  canals  would  have  constructed 
macadamized  roads  to  every  important  section  of  our 
State,  serving  at  that  period  to  cheapen  the  transit  of 
produce  to  market,  and  at  this  time  as  a  basis  for  the 
plank  road,  so  admirably  adapted  to  our  country,  and 
which  in  my  opinion,  is  destined  to  supersede  all  other 
modes  of  transit." 

All  of  which  points  to  the  truth,  that  the  veil  which 
hid  the  future  from  the  wisest  minds  of  the  past  hides 
it  from  every  generation.  In  1818-26  the  representa- 
tives of  the  state  followed  the  best  lights  available. 
Their  labor  was  brought  to  nought  by  an  invention 
which  was  revolutionary.  William  Gregg,  who  saw 
through  the  cotton  situation  so  correctly,  utterly  failed 
as  a  prognosticator  of  future  internal  improvements. 
The  plank  road  was  a  short-lived  experiment,  which 
used  up  the  best  long-leaf  pines  and  soon  ceased  to 
be  mentioned  among  profitable  and  useful  investments. 

164 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

The  railroad  has  more  than  maintained  its  ground,  but 
it  cannot  be  a  rival  to  the  newly  invented  automobile, 
whose  utility  has  proven  to  be  so  great  that  the  long- 
standing problem  of  good  roads  is  being  forced  to  the 
front,  as  if  another  "convulsion"  was  at  hand.  Will 
some  future  writer  comment  upon  the  present-day 
excitement  and  how  its  vast  expenditures  were  ren- 
dered valueless  by  some  new  and  more  expeditious 
method  of  locomotion?  Aviation  at  present  exhibits 
no  revolutionary  possibilities  in  the  arts  of  peace. 

Sources:  Thomas'  Reminiscences,  O'Neall's  Bench 
and  Bar,  the  Courier,  the  Carolina  Gazette,  the  American 
Farmer,  Records  of  the  State  Senate,  Sydney  J.  Cohen 
in  the  Sunday  News. 


165 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ADDITIONS   TO   SOCIETY 

IN  A  letter  written  to  the  Camden  Journal  (1830) 
some  facts  were  stated  which  otherwise  might  have 
been  forgotten  or  left  as  a  hazy  tradition.  "My 
best  days,"  said  General  Williams,  "have  been  spent 
in  the  attempt  to  improve  the  agricultural  and  mechanic 
arts;  except  a  few  implements  of  husbandry,  I  have  no 
reason  yet  to  believe  I  have  in  its  opinion,  added  any- 
thing to  society,  but  in  two  instances.  I  was  the  first 
person  who  attempted  the  use  of  mules,  certainly  in 
the  Southern  States  if  not  in  the  United  States,  for  the 
purpose  of  agriculture.  If  I  had  then  been  so  easily 
put  out  of  countenance  as  most  young  men,  I  should 
have  given  it  up  in  despair,  for  I  was  ridiculed  by  old  and 
young.  I  have  lived  to  see  the  only  limit  to  their  use 
is  the  circumstance  of  the  planter."  His  claim,  it 
must  be  noticed,  is  only  that  he  was  the  first  to  use  the 
mule  for  agricultural  purposes.  It  was  still  a  question 
whether  the  ox,  strong  and  docile  and  nearly  as  long- 
lived,  or  the  horse,  which  lived  on  grain  and  lost  its 
value  by  blindness  or  lameness,  were  to  be  the  plough 
beast.  The  fast  horse  was  bound  to  gain  on  the  slow 
ox  in  a  country  of  great  distances  and  among  a  people 
whose  inventions  have  been  mostly  in  time-saving 
devices.     Mr.  Williams  knew  the  value  of  the  ox  and 

166 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

kept  several  yokes  to  the  end  of  his  life,  and  he  knew 
the  superiority  of  the  horse  over  the  ox  as  a  plough 
animal.  Was  he  looking  for  an  animal  which  had  the 
good  qualities  of  both?  The  question  cannot  be  an- 
swered, but  it  may  be  assumed  that  in  his  visit  to 
Connecticut,  in  1804-05,  where,  the  tradition  is,  he  pro- 
cured the  first  animal  (N.  W.  Kirkpatrick)  he  plied 
the  owner  with  questions,  or  others  who  had  knowledge 
of  the  mule,  and  found  sufficient  reasons  to  make  the 
experiment  on  his  plantations.  That  he  was  laughed 
at  and  ridiculed  by  old  and  young  was  not  an  exaggera- 
tion. Some  fourteen  years  after  the  supposed  date  of 
the  importation  of  the  first  jack  on  the  Pee  Dee,  a  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  Pendleton  Agricultural  Society 
on  "Farm  Stock"  reported  (1818),  in  words  that  might 
have  been  used  by  General  Williams  himself,  before 
the  ignorance  and  prejudice  of  his  neighbors  had  been 
removed  by  facts:  "In  the  opinion  of  your  committee, 
the  mule  is  better  calculated  to  answer  the  general 
purpose  of  the  farm  than  either  the  horse  or  the  ox,  as 
uniting  the  good  properties  of  each  with  but  few  of  the 
bad.  Nothing  but  ignorance  and  prejudice  could  have 
kept  the  value  of  this  useful  animal  so  long  from  being 
known  among  us.  It  is,  however,  very  strange  that 
the  most  intelligent  writers  upon  farm  stock  appear  and 
acknowledge  themselves  to  be  ignorant  of  them  as  a 
beast  of  the  plough.  .  .  .  The  mule  is  more  easily 
raised  than  the  horse,  more  able  to  bear  heavy  burdens, 
equally  strong  for  the  draft,  more  patient,  equally 
docile,  will  live  twice  or  thrice  as  long,  capable  of  en- 
during much  more  labor,  will  do  as  much  work  in  the 
same  time,  and  will  not  be  more  than  one  half  the  ex- 
pense, as  they  will  not  eat  more  than  one  half  the  grain, 

167 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

will  make  use  of  long  forage,  which  the  delicacy  of  the 
horse  will  reject,  and  will  bear  the  heat  full  as  well, 
perhaps  better.  Besides  all  this,  they  are  able  to  work 
sooner,  and  are  only  in  their  prime,  when  the  horse  has 
become  a  useless  expense  by  age.  From  the  smallness 
of  their  foot,  they  may  not  answer  so  well  as  the  horse 
in  deep,  miry  roads,  but  from  the  excellence  of  the  hoof, 
they  will  never  require  to  be  shod,  except  upon  long 
journeys  over  rocky  roads." 

The  Agricultural  Department  in  Washington  was 
appealed  to  for  information  about  the  origin,  spread 
and  growth  of  the  mule  to  nearly  five  millions  in  num- 
ber, but  with  all  the  appropriations  for  investigation 
and  printing,  not  a  line  was  to  be  found.  Two  men  in 
the  West  were  referred  to  for  information,  but  nothing 
has  been  turned  up  to  throw  light  on  the  spread  of  the 
first  mules.  References  to  them  are  only  incidental, 
as  the  saddle  animal  which  went  on  and  left  Absalom 
dangling  from  a  limb,  or  the  fourteen  hundred  in  a 
torpedoed  ship,  left  to  swim  in  mid  ocean,  unlamented 
and  unavenged. 

As  General  Williams  looked  back  on  these  early 
experiences  with  his  first  trials  with  the  mule  he  had 
what  is  designated  in  the  well-known  proverb,  "the 
sweetest  laugh."  He  lived  to  see  the  mule  fully 
appreciated  in  his  neighborhood,  and  when  death 
knocked  at  his  door,  there  were  found  in  his  stables  two 
carriage  horses,  one  saddle  horse,  four  mares,  one  jack, 
and  sixty-four  mules.  "I  first  attempted,"  he  con- 
tinued, "to  dam  out  the  inundation  of  the  Pee  Dee, 
and  consequent  thereon,  had  well  nigh  been  deprived 
of  a  seat  in  Congress,  because  it  was  thought  any  man 
who  believed  he  could  keep  the  freshets  from  the  low 

168 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

grounds  was  too  big  a  fool  to  go  to  Congress.  Now 
there  is  nearly  as  much  swamp  land  reclaimed  from  the 
freshets  in  South  Carolina  as  in  Mississippi."  As  has 
already  been  mentioned,  the  first  and  only  time  Con- 
gressman Williams  could  have  been  "deprived"  of  his 
seat  was  in  the  campaign  of  1807,  but  the  magnitude  of 
the  work  caused  several  years  to  be  spent  in  its  execu- 
tion. A  part  of  the  year  had  to  be  given  entirely  to  his 
growing  crop,  and  his  instruments  were  doubtless  the 
shovel,  the  wheelbarrow,  dump  cart,  wagon,  and  other 
primitive  contrivances.  The  dam  was  about  five  miles 
in  length  and  an  average  of  seven  or  eight  feet  in  height, 
the  base  contracting  or  expanding  somewhat  with  the 
height.  A  reference  made  by  him  intimates  that  it 
was  finished  in  1809,  as  from  that  time  for  twenty  years 
the  freshets  had  not  done  so  much  damage  as  the  one 
of  1829.  This  calculation  is  supported  by  Mills  (1823- 
26),  who  stated  the  embanking  had  been  done  in  the 
last  fifteen  years.  It  was  after  1808  that  he  began  his 
method  of  resuscitation  of  old  fields,  apparently  when 
the  dam  had  been  finished.  The  popular  rotation  at 
this  time  was,  "to  cut  down  and  fence  the  land,  to  grow 
on  them  a  few  years,  annually  decreasing  crops,  then 
to  give  them  up  to  weeds  and  briers,  and  finally  to 
abandon  them  in  quest  of  new  settlements" ;  but  another 
rotation  and  fate,  yet  to  be  related,  awaited  these 
sterile  fields. 

The  inference  is  clear  that  General  Williams  con- 
sidered his  embankments  as  the  first  and  parent  of 
those  that  followed.  In  his  "Statistics,"  Mills  says: 
"The  lowlands  of  Pedee  yield  the  finest  crops  of  cotton 
and  corn.  The  average  crop  of  lint  cotton  to  the  acre 
on  these  lands,  is  equal  to  a  bag  of  three  hundred  weight; 

169 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

and  of  corn,  about  thirty  bushels.  Such  lands  are 
valued  very  high,  and  will  bring  from  forty  to  sixty 
dollars  per  acre.  .  .  .  Most  of  the  river  swamp  is 
under  cultivation  and  protected  from  freshets.  The 
quantity  perhaps  may  be  equal  to  twenty  thousand 
acres.  Within  the  last  fifteen  years  extensive  embank- 
ments or  river  swamp  land  have  been  effected.  Gen. 
D.  R.  Williams  was  first  to  appreciate  the  value  of  such 
works,  which  he  planned  and  executed  with  admirable 
success.  His  lands  have  been  thus  so  perfectly  pro- 
tected, that  no  freshet  has  covered  his  plantation  for 
years.  The  consequence  has  been  that  he  makes  much 
larger  crops  than  formerly,  and  never  loses  them  by 
inundation. " 

Three  years  later  there  was  a  freshet  the  destructive 
effects  of  which  we  have  in  General  Williams'  own 
graphic  words: 

"Rocky  River  Springs,  Aug.  27,  1829. 
"My  dear  Colonel  [Chesnut]: 

"  .  .  .  My  losses*  by  the  freshet  exceed  in  amount 
the  aggregate  of  20  years  back.  Three  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  of  cotton,  my  new  mill  and  dam,  constitute 
the  principal  items.  Some  corn,  oats,  rye,  etc.,  but 
not  to  a  serious  extent,  save  the  low  lands  being  my 

*"On  the  night  of  the  6th  of  August,"  said  a  writer  in  the  Charleston  Courier,  "the 
river  began  to  rise  and  by  morning  it  had  risen  30  feet.  It  continued  to  rise  slowly 
through  the  7th,  attaining  to  its  greatest  height  on  the  8th — at  this  time  a  breach  was 
made  in  the  dam  of  great  height  and  extent,  erected  by  General  Williams;  the  torrent 
which  rushed  in  at  this  point  was  so  great  as  to  snap  in  two,  like  a  pipe  stem,  a  large 
log  three  feet  through,  which  was  sucked  in  across  the  breach.  The  tremendous  gush 
of  water  soon  washed  down  the  dam  under  the  wings  of  the  mill,  which  had  been  erected 
about  three  years  since,  and  in  less  than  five  minutes  time,  tore  up  foundation,  mill, 
and  every  thing.  Wheeling  the  mill  around,  and  carrying  it  into  Buckhold's  Creek, 
clearing  itself  a  passage  through  the  trees,  with  the  resistlessness  of  a  tornado,  and  in 
less  than  two  hours  thereafter,  all  the  cotton  of  two  adjoining  plantations,  belonging 
to  General  Williams,  was  destroyed." 

170 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

seed  for  the  ensuing  crop.    There  was  no  fault  in  the 
construction  of  either  the  dam  or  the  mill;  the  loss  of 
them  is  owing  entirely  to  the  great  evil  of  my  life  and 
disposition — procrastination.     Nick  and  myself  exam- 
ined both  carefully  a  few  hours  before  they  were  de- 
stroyed and  both  were  as  tight  as  I  could  wish.   When 
the  water  had  nearly  or  quite  reached  its  height,  the 
pressure  was  so  great  as  to  break  in  the  plank  of  the 
side  wall;  and  as  the  gush  of  water  was  into  the  mill  on 
the  sheeting,  no  further  injury  would  have  been  re- 
ceived, had  there  been  any  one  there  who  knew  what 
to  do.     It  was  about  midnight;  I  was  immediately 
sent  to,  but  Mrs.  W.  would  not  allow  me  to  be  woke, 
supposing  it  to  be  useless.     As  the  dam  was  injured 
solely  by  the  whirl  and  of  the  (?)  through  the  wall, 
which  was  at  the  lowest  end  of  the  mill,  all  that  was 
necessary  to  save  the  whole  was  to  choke  the  vent  and 
thereby  lessen  the  suck,  but  nothing  was  done  and  by 
morning  when  I  got  there  a  little  after  light,  it  had 
drawn  in  so  much  of  the  dam  as  to  allow  the  river  to 
break  through  soon  after.     I  had  remarked  last  winter 
a  little  appearance  of  decay  on  the  side  wall  and  had 
only  begun  to  make  brick  to  put  in  pier  two  days  before 
the  wall  was  destroyed.     There  was  in  the  barn  yard 
in  fifty  yards  of  the  breach  some  hundred  wagon  loads 
of  wheat  and  rye  straw  with  which  the  breach  could 
easily  have  been  checked.     The  mill  stood  firm  till 
the  river  had  cut  down  the  dam  to  its  foundations;  it 
then  lifted  the  mill,  whirled  it  round  and  drove  it  up 
the  woods  faster  than  I  ever  saw  a  steamboat  ascend 
the  river.     The  great  dam  between  the  mill  and  the 
barn  yard  (?)  high  and  (?)  feet  broad,  was  in  the  course 
of  three  hours  totally  scattered;  this  is  the  only  injury 

171 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

the  dam  sustained;  but  it  has  so  mortified  and  broken 
up  my  spirit  'for  a  hard  job,'  I  shall  never  attempt  the 
mill  again,  if  I  can  repair  the  breach." 

The  hard  job  was  left  untouched  for  nearly  a  year. 
On  the  11th  of  August,  the  year  following,  he  wrote  to 
Governor  Miller:  "Three  weeks  last  Monday  I  began 
to  fill  the  great  chasm,  made  in  my  dam  last  August 
and  what  you  saw.  I  began  with  forty-four  mules  and 
thirty-five  fellows  and  altho  the  excavation  was  quite 
large  enough  to  make  one  shrink  from  the  job,  nearly 
a  year,  I  could  not  arrange  to  suit  my  other  views,  earlier. 
Although  I  have  lost  nothing  of  the  disposition  to  enter- 
prise, I  freely  confess  almost  all  the  ability  to  labor 
has  passed  from  me."  In  September,  he  added:  "The 
breach  is  repaired  and  completed,  with  three  days' 
more  work  than  I  anticipated."  "My  crop,"  said  he 
in  October,  "is  so  so — corn  abundant — but  cotton  not 
in  the  same  degree  of  'fother  of  fine  chance.'  Pumpkins 
and  peas  without  stint  or  care. " 

The  loss  by  the  freshet  included  about  one  thousand 
dollars  to  repair  the  dam  in  addition  to  the  loss  of  the 
mill  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  cotton.  If 
Mills'  estimate  holds  good,  the  loss  was  three  hundred 
and  fifty  bales  of  cotton  weighing  three  hundred  pounds, 
valued  at  nine  cents  a  pound — i.  e.,  nine  thousand  four 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  less  the  cost  of  gathering. 
The  blow  was  felt,  but  it  did  not  cripple  him  financially. 
Other  plantations  were  untouched  and  the  corn  crop 
was  not  ruined.  Besides  the  cash  a  forehanded  and 
cautious  man  always  has  in  reserve  for  emergencies, 
there  was  the  income  from  his  store,  factory  and 
smaller  rivulets. 

172 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

The  interest  in  rescuing  swamp  land  continued  to 
spread  over  the  state  through  the  next  three  decades, 
and  the  reclaimed  land  added  in  harvest  time  millions 
of  pounds  of  cotton  and  of  bushels  of  corn  and  oats. 
The  vagaries  of  the  Pee  Dee  did  not  come  to  an  end  in 
1829.  Now  and  then  when  men  on  its  borders  began 
to  think  they  had  the  monster  securely  chained,  it  rose 
higher  and  higher  and  swept  away  the  labors  of  men  and 
mules.  After  the  great  freshet  of  1852,  a  letter  from 
Mr.  P.  K.  Mclver  to  Professor  Mims  gives  a  glimpse  of 
the  Pee  Dee  in  its  wrathful  moods: 

"The  freshet  on  the  Pee  Dee  has  been  the  most 
destructive  ever  known  at  least  since  my  day.  Some 
planters  I  hear  have  lost  their  entire  crop,  besides  the 
breaking  of  dams  and  washing  of  land.  I  hear  Mr.  T.  P. 
Lide's  crop  is  a  total  loss.  John  Mclver  has  lost  his 
entire  crop  of  cotton  and  a  part  of  his  corn,  and  his  dam 
broke.  All  the  river  planters  have  suffered  more  or 
less." 


173 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  FAMILY  AND  HIS  PROVISION  FOR  ITS  FUTURE 

HIS  residence  known  as  Centre  Hall  is  associated 
with  his  early  manhood  and  official  honors. 
From  the  gentle  elevation  now  thickly  covered 
with  saplings  and  from  his  gentler  wife,  he  went  to 
Congress  and  later  as  Governor  of  the  state.  The  home 
at  the  Factory  is  associated  with  General  Williams  as 
a  large  planter,  manufacturer,  an  experimenter  and  as 
the  first  citizen  of  the  community.  "The  Factory" 
dwelling  was  built  by  General  Williams  and  is  described 
as  "two  stories,  about  40  feet  square,  having  four  rooms 
on  each  floor  and  two  in  the  attic;  and  with  broad 
piazzas  along  both  the  back  and  front."     (Ames.) 

Besides  himself,  in  his  family  proper  were  his  wife, 
Elizabeth  Witherspoon  Williams,  and  his  son  Nicholas. 
The  young  man  enjoyed  excellent  privileges  in  his 
youth  and  profited  by  them.  Although  deprived  of 
his  mother's  care,  he  developed  into  a  young  man  of 
amiable  and  excellent  character,  and  graduated  in  1816 
at  the  South  Carolina  College,  and  travelled  in  Europe 
in  company  with  John  Randolph.  While  at  school  he 
fell  in  love  with  a  young  lady  who  lived  at  the  Mulberry 
Plantation  near  Camden,  and  was  wise  enough  to  make 
his  father  his  confidant,  who  at  once  showed  himself  to 
be  an  efficient  helper  in  the  wooing  that  continued  a 

174 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

number  of  years.  The  upshot  of  it  is  gleaned  in  a 
letter  to  Colonel  Ghesnut,  his  partner  in  the  factory, 
and  the  father  of  the  young  lady: 

"Factory,  1th  Oct.,  1820. 
"My  dear  Colonel  [James  Chesnut]: 

".  .  .1  was  exceedingly  rejoiced  to  learn  from  my 
son  that  it  was  your  intention  when  he  left  you,  to 
be  here  next  Sunday  week.  On  that  day,  as  on  every 
other,  I  shall  be  infinitely  delighted  to  see  you.  Nicho- 
las improved  the  first  opportunity  after  his  return  to 
inform  me  that  he  had  applied  to  you  and  Mrs.  Ghesnut 
for  your  consent  to  his  union  with  your  elder  daughter, 
and  that  before  you  could  accede  to  such  a  proposition, 
it  was  desirable  first  on  a  subject  so  interesting  to  us  all. 

"In  the  close  of  the  Autumn  of  1815,  he  first  informed 
me  of  the  existence  of  an  affection  on  his  part  which 
would  lead  him  to  endeavor  to  present  her  to  me  as  his 
wife.  Since  that  period,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
judge,  that  affection,  so  early  and  so  promptly  excited, 
has  been  constantly  increasing;  and  his  conduct  has 
been  uniformly,  too,  particular  and  obvious,  to  be  at 
any  time  doubtful.  The  period  of  his  probation  has 
been  long  protracted  and  if  time  and  uniformity  afford 
guarantees  in  such  a  case,  I  trust  all  that  is  practicable, 
has  been  obtained.  Certainly  there  ought  not  to  be  a 
doubt  on  any  of  our  minds,  that  it  is  possible  to  remove. 
Every  thing  that  I  have  been  able  to  know,  has  long 
since  satisfied  me  that  his  affections  were  steady  and 
firmly  settled,  and  in  such  a  belief,  if  I  had  never  seen 
the  object,  my  course  of  thinking  would  have  induced 
me  to  yield  without  hesitation,  to  his  wishes;  but  in  the 
present  case,  I  am  infinitely  more  fortunate  and  happy. 

175 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

I  do  know  the  object  of  his  attachment  and  she  fills 
my  heart  and  wish  perfectly.  She  is  as  much  the 
object  of  my  choice  as  she  possibly  can  be  of  his;  for 
sincerely  if  I  had  the  world  of  women  to  choose  from, 
she  then  as  certainly  as  now,  would  be  the  selected. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  you  cannot  fail  to  be- 
lieve that  my  son's  union  with  your  daughter,  is  not 
merely  a  circumstance  pleasant  and  desirable  to  me, 
but  has  been  for  some  time  back  and  is  now,  a  subject 
of  absolute  and  earnest  anxiety.  He  is  my  only  child, 
not  dearer,  however,  from  that  circumstance  than  from 
the  moral  rectitude  and  propriety  of  his  deportment. 
He  is  the  ultimate  object  of  all  my  efforts  and  industry; 
and  possessing  my  whole  heart,  of  course,  cannot  be 
suffered  to  know  a  want  in  my  power  to  gratify.  By  a 
union  with  Serena,  he  will  be  yet  more  dear  to  me,  by 
uniting  me  also  to  an  interesting  and  intelligent  lady, 
whom  I  have  long  loved  with  earnestness  and  respect; 
and  by  strengthening  those  ties  of  friendship  for  a  fam- 
ily than  whom  none  other  do  I  feel  so  much  regard. 

"Thus,  sir,  have  I  opened  my  whole  heart  without 
the  least  reserve,  on  the  most  important  subject  left  for 
me  in  this  life,  and  I  am  so  jealous  and  anxious  for  the 
happiness  which  I  so  earnestly  anticipated,  I  cannot 
feel  at  rest  till  it  be  substantiated.  The  pecuniary 
considerations  which  this  topic  sometimes  gives  rise  to, 
I  shall  not  touch  further  than  to  say  that  the  major  is 
now  worth  at  least  $100,000  clear  of  debt. 

"Allow  me  to  add,  what  is  scarcely  necessary  after 
what  I  have  said,  I  hope  there  will  be  as  much  pleasure 
to  this  union  among  your  family,  as  among  mine  and 
that  it  may  take  place  without  delay. 

"Be  pleased  to  present  me  most  cordially  to  your 

176 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

family  and  say  to  Serena,  I  have  with  earnestness  and 
serenity,  been  long  impatient  for  the  right  to  consider 
her  my  child;  that  I  shall  receive  her  as  such,  with  the 
utmost  delight  and  pledge  her  all  the  fondness  and 
affection  of  a  sincere  friend  and  father.  I  am  as  usual 
with  great  personal  regards, 

"Yours  sincerely, 

"David  R.  Williams." 

The  expected  visit  of  Colonel  Chesnut  and  the  con- 
sent of  all  parties  to  the  wishes  of  the  young  couple 
are  to  be  taken  for  granted ;  for  in  less  than  two  months 
the  marriage  was  celebrated  and  the  two  hearts  made 
one.  The  young  couple  settled  down,  it  is  supposed, 
at  Centre  Hall  then  belonging  to  Nicholas,  where  he 
was  born  and  where  as  the  residence  of  a  South  Carolina 
nobleman,  it  was  made  historic.  Colonel  Williams  was 
already  a  wealthy  man  and  a  fine  farmer  and  before 
him  and  his  bride  was  every  promise  of  a  blissful  exist- 
ence. A  daughter,  Mary  Serena  Chesnut,  and  a  son, 
David  Rogerson  Williams,  Jr.,  came  to  bless  their 
union,  before  it  was  dissolved  by  her  death  October, 
1822. 

Only  a  few  months  elapsed  after  the  celebration  of 
this  marriage,  before  General  Williams  devised  his  will 
in  a  spirit  as  charming  as  his  language  was  lucid  and 
interesting.     It  reads  as  follows : 

"Feeling  aware  of  the  uncertainty  of  human  life, 
and  being  convinced  of  the  propriety  of  arranging  my 
affairs  during  the  possession  of  my  mental  faculties, 
being  now  sound  of  health  both  of  body  and  mind,  I 

177 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

do  hereby  publish  and  declare  my  last  will  and  testa- 
ment, revoking  all  others,  if  any  there  be. 

"Imprimis:  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  wife, 
Elizabeth,  all  my  household  and  kitchen  furniture,  to- 
gether with  my  carriage  and  carriage  horses  and  all  the 
negroes  now  alive  and  their  issue,  which  she  possessed 
at  the  time  of  my  intermarriage  with  her,  to  her  and  to 
her  heirs  forever,  to  be  disposed  of  by  her  in  such  man- 
ner as  she  shall  think  proper. 

"2ndly.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  wife, 
Elizabeth,  the  use  during  her  natural  life,  of  my  planta- 
tion called  the  Upper  Quarter,  together  with  the  use  of 
the  horses,  mules  and  hogs,  which  are  attached  to  the 
same;  the  plantation  and  blacksmith  tools  of  that  place 
and  the  use  of  one  half  of  my  sheep  and  cattle.  It  is 
to  be  understood  that  the  portion  of  my  land  called  the 
Upper  Quarter,  is  contained  within  the  following  limits 
and  exceptions,  viz.  From  my  upper  line  down  Pee 
Dee  River  to  the  mouth  of  Buckhold's  Creek,  thence  up 
said  creek  and  through  the  lake  to  where  the  said  creek 
empties  into  the  said  lake,  thence  up  said  creek  to  the 
Georgetown  River  road,  thence  down  said  road  to 
Chunkey  pike,  thence  up  Chunkey  pike,  to  its  inter- 
section with  my  outside  line  that  divides  Thomas  E. 
Mclver's  land,  where  he  lives,  from  mine;  up  said  line  to 
the  Darlington  road;  up  said  road  to  where  the  upper 
line  of  a  tract  of  land,  I  purchased  from  the  Commis- 
sioner in  Equity,  belonging  to  the  estate  of  Jno.  Mcin- 
tosh, Sr.,  crossed  said  road;  thence  along  said  line,  and 
my  other  outside  lines  which  run  through  the  Pocoson 
and  divide  Mrs.  W.  C.  Evan's  land  and  mine,  to  the 
aforesaid  river.  Within  these  limits  are  my  cotton 
gin,  mill  and  my  Buckhold's  Creek  saw  mill,  these  and 

178 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

sufficient  land  for  each  of  the  said  ponds  to  flow  for  the 
full  uses  of  the  said  mills,  are  to  be  excluded  from  the 
'Upper  Quarter.'  My  grist,  sometimes  called  Smart's 
mill  on  Buckhold's  Creek,  is  to  be  considered  as  an 
appendage  to  the  Upper  Quarter  and  will  go  with  it, 
to  the  use  of  my  wife;  within  this  mill  are  all  the  fixtures 
for  ginning  cotton  and  which  she,  my  wife,  ought  to  use 
for  that  purpose. 

"3rdly.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  wife, 
Elizabeth,  the  use  during  her  natural  life,  of  my  late 
residence,  known  as  Centre  Hall;  and  of  my  house 
servants,  named,  Sally,  Ruth,  Doll  and  Jane,  to  revert 
at  her  death  to  my  son  and  his  heirs  forever.  I  con- 
ceive this  change  of  residence,  between  my  son  and  wife, 
will  be  mutually  convenient  to  each  of  them.  My  es- 
tablishment here,  will  require  the  presence  of  my  son; 
while  her  plantation  will  be  more  convenient  to  her, 
at  Centre  Hall.  The  Upper  Quarter  contains  an  abund- 
ance of  land,  to  work  all  the  negroes  which  she  of  right 
holds,  under  her  father's  will,  together  with  those,  I 
have  now  left  her;  and  therefore,  on  account  of  inter- 
marriages with  the  negroes  of  my  son  and  especially 
on  account  of  her  own  health,  I  hope  she  will  not  remove 
any  of  them  or  herself  to  the  Witherspoon  place. 

"4th.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  wife 
all  the  rights  which  may  have  accrued  to  me,  to  Wither- 
spoon's  Ferry,  the  lands  I  have  taken  up  on  the  South 
side  of  Lynch's  Creek,  at  said  ferry  and  those  on  the 
North  side,  purchased  of  Robert  Witherspoon,  for  her 
use  and  after  death  to  revert  to  my  son  and  his  heirs 
forever. 

"5thly.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  dear  son,  Jno. 
N.  Williams,  all  the  rest,  residue  and  remainder  of  my 

179 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

property,  both  real  and  personal,  to  him  and  to  his 
heirs  forever. 

"Lastly.  I  nominate  and  appoint  my  beloved  wife 
executrix  and  my  dear  son  executor,  of  this  my  last 
Will,  recommending  to  them  a  continuance  of  kindness, 
love  and  confidence.  With  my  blessings  to  my  son, 
I  confide  to  his  best  care  and  attention,  my  beloved 
wife,  hoping  as  a  tribute  to  my  affection  to  him  and  her, 
he  will  do  every  thing  in  his  power  for  her;  and  as  she 
has  never  failed  in  kindness  to  him  and  me,  he  will  not 
fail  in  the  tenderest  care  of  her,  when  she  shall  be  de- 
prived of  my  protection  and  love." 

The  witnesses  were  Elias  Gregg,  John  W.  Davis  and 
D.  R.  W.  Mclver. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Williams  was  in  every  respect  fitted 
to  fill  the  place  of  wife,  mother  and  mistress  in  this 
worthy  household.  As  mistress  she  attended  in  con- 
nection with  the  physician  to  the  cases  of  sickness  among 
the  slaves  and  became  an  expert  in  handling  the  less 
serious  local  diseases  and  accidents,  for  which  she  had 
the  remedies  at  hand.  Several  of  her  letters  to  sick 
friends  or  their  relatives  are  yet  extant,  in  which  pre- 
scriptions were  made  and  kinds  of  exercise  recom- 
mended. She  is  better  known  in  her  widowhood,  after 
she  entered  with  all  her  energy  into  the  beneficent 
schemes  of  the  neighborhood  and  state.  She  was  a 
useful  member  of  the  Welsh  Neck  Church,  interested  in 
the  Female  Benevolent  Society,  in  the  education  of 
both  boys  and  girls  in  backward  surroundings  and  in 
the  pastor's  family. 

Her  pastor,  James  C.  Furman,  had  the  pleasure  and 
privilege  of  sojourning  with  his  small  family  under  the 

180 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

roof  of  Mrs.  Williams  at  Crowley  Hill,*  from  January 
to  December,  1834,  while  his  brethren  were  arranging 
to  build  and  equip  a  parsonage.  He  preached  her 
funeral  and,  being  himself  a  man  of  almost  feminine 
tenderness  and  purity,  he  revelled  in  the  subject  pre- 
sented by  such  an  occasion.  From  the  manuscript 
used  by  him  so  much  only  is  now  to  be  extracted  as  is 
thought  especially  to  develop  her  character  and  con- 
tribute to  the  subject  in  hand:  "If  the  possession  of  an 
uncommon  share  of  respect  and  affection  from  a  large 
circle  of  acquaintances,  relations  and  friends,  if  the 
occupancy  of  a  wide  sphere  of  usefulness  and  a  constant 
readiness  for  every  good  word  and  work,  were  sufficient 
reasons  for  a  delay  of  the  last  messenger,  our  deceased 
friend  had  not  yet  received  her  summons  to  depart. 
Had  human  wisdom  been  exercised  in  determining  the 
measure  of  her  earthly  existence,  the  utmost  limit  of 
human  life,  would  have  been  assigned  her;  the  hearts 
now  saddened  by  her  absence,  would  have  been  re- 
joicing in  her  society,  and  you  who  as  listeners  are  re- 
ceiving the  last  lessons  of  instruction  furnished  by  her 
life  and  death  would,  as  beholders,  have  been  gathering 
continued  lessons  from  her  living  example.  Had  it 
been  left  to  us  to  decide,  we  should  have  prolonged  to 
the  utmost  possible  period  such  an  opportunity  of  hold- 
ing up  before  our  own  eyes  and  the  eyes  of  others  her 
bright  and  beautiful  exhibition  of  whatsoever  things 
are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  honest,  whatsoever  things 
are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things 
are  lovely  and  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report. 
.     .     .     In  attempting  a  description  of  the  character 

*Crowley  Hill  is  now  the  home  of  Mr.  N.  W.  Kirkpatrick,  great-grandson  of  General 
Williams. 

181 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

of  Mrs.  Williams,  I  would  remark  at  the  outset  that 
whilst  it  was  a  striking  character,  it  was  as  complete 
and  well  balanced  a  character  as  I  have  ever  known. 
No  one  quality  appeared  in  excess  and  no  defective 
trait  met  the  view,  like  a  blemish  in  a  finished  portrait 
made  more  manifest  by  contrast  with  the  general  style 
of  the  picture,  and  awakening  a  desire  in  the  beholder 
that  the  hand  of  the  master  might  be  employed  to 
retouch  and  perfect  the  piece.  There  was  something 
in  her  very  appearance  which  made  at  first  a  decided 
and  most  favorable  impression.  The  genuine  dignity 
of  her  aspect  and  manner,  the  benignant  expression  of 
her  countenance  and  the  peculiarly  kind  tones  of  her 
voice,  satisfied  you  at  once  that  before  you  was  an  in- 
dividual who  would  be  at  home  and  respected  in  the 
most  refined  society,  and  still  accessible  to  the  poorest 
and  most  depressed.  It  not  unfrequently  happens  in 
the  intercourse  of  life  that  we  meet  with  persons  whose 
rough  exterior  and  blunt  and  even  forbidding  address, 
are  incorrect  exponents  of  their  real  worth.  Again  we 
meet  with  others  whose  external  bearing  is  not  in  keep- 
ing with  their  real  feelings;  whose  assumed  air  and  arti- 
ficial tones,  and  studied  phrases,  lead  you  to  expect 
gentleness  and  kindness  and  fidelity;  but  who  fill  up  at 
last  the  description  of  the  Psalmist,  'The  words  of  his 
mouth  were  smoother  than  butter,  but  war  was  in  his 
heart;  his  words  were  softer  than  oil,  yet  were  they 
drawn  swords.' 

"The  character  we  are  now  considering  was  the 
happy  medium  between  the  two  extremes.  Your  first 
acquaintance  was  the  perusal  of  a  preface  which  prom- 
ised much,  and  your  subsequent  acquaintance  was  a 
continued  perusal  of  a  volume  whose  every  unfolding 

182 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

leaf  justified  the  promise  of  its  title  page.  Her  acquaint- 
ance was  sought  and  formed  by  individuals  who  had 
been  led  to  desire  it  by  the  representations  of  her 
character  made  by  her  most  admiring,  and  though  in 
such  cases  of  highly  excited  expectation,  there  is  almost 
always  a  sense  of  disappointment  experienced  when  the 
object  aimed  at  has  been  gained,  yet  I  have  never 
known  a  case  in  which  the  experience  of  personal  inter- 
course has  not  been  a  delightful  realization  of  previous 
anticipations.  Who,  when  once  introduced  into  her 
society,  has  ever  been  heard  to  say,  T  was  disappointed 
in  Mrs.  Williams?' 

"  One  of  the  invaluable  traits  of  her  character  was  its 
beautiful  transparency.  Like  the  stream  whose  pure 
water  enables  you  to  see  the  very  pebbles  which  floor 
its  channel  you  saw  through  her  actions  to  the  very 
motives  from  which  they  sprang.  The  Searcher  of 
hearts,  I  firmly  believe,  saw  in  her  the  very  attributes 
which  drew  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  the  encomium  passed 
upon  Nathaniel  'An  Israelite  in  whom  is  no  guile.'  It 
was  this  which  led  her  friends  to  feel  when  her  senti- 
ments were  once  expressed  that  they  knew  them  per- 
fectly. There  was  no  concealment,  no  disguise.  If 
her  approbation  was  given,  its  virtue  was  not  lessened 
by  a  fear  that  the  spirit  of  flattery  had  dictated  a  single 
syllable.  If  she  saw  what  was  wrong  and  she  felt  it  to 
be  her  office  to  speak,  what  was  said  was  the  real  opin- 
ion she  entertained.  Confined  to  the  society  of  such  a 
person,  a  tale-bearer  would  have  died  from  the  mere 
want  of  employment.  The  secrets  of  those  'who  take 
up  a  report  against  their  neighbors'  would  have  found 
no  more  encouragement  in  her  bosom  than  the  proposal 
of  treason  in  the  heart  of  a  patriot.     If  a  deception 

183 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

might  have  served  a  turn,  if  it  might  have  relieved  her 
from  a  perplexity  or  gained  an  advantage,  she  could 
not  have  been  induced  to  use  it.  She  would  not  prac- 
tice an  illusion  upon  a  child,  nor  would  she  employ 
deception  even  to  administer  medicine  to  the  sick.  A 
statement  of  facts  from  her  lips  had  all  the  authority  of 
ocular  demonstration. 

"Combined  with  this  invaluable  trait  of  character 
was  a  large  share  of  good  sense.  Her  sound  judgment 
was  displayed  in  the  whole  conduct  of  her  life.  Her 
mind  eminently  practical  formed  a  just  conception  of 
the  proprieties  of  life  and  enabled  her  in  her  personal 
demeanor  and  her  relative  connections  to  pursue  a 
course  which  gave  constant  evidence  of  prudent  fore- 
thought and  wise  consideration. 

"Whatever  position  she  was  called  to  occupy,  what- 
ever demand  for  action  was  made  upon  her,  the  first 
questions  which  received  her  attention  were,  'what  is 
best  to  be  done '  and  '  in  what  way  will  it  be  best  done?' 
Her  whole  life  was  governed  by  rules,  not  for  the  mere 
sake  of  professing  to  be  governed  by  them,  but  because 
of  their  practical  utility.  It  led  her  to  a  wise  distribu- 
tion of  her  time,  and  to  the  assignment  of  particular 
duties  to  particular  periods.  It  made  her  residence  the 
abode  of  neatness,  order  and  regularity.  It  insured  her 
seasons  of  devotion  and  secured  her  ample  time  for 
reading.  (This  led  her  to  subject  her  appetite  to  disci- 
pline and  enabled  her  by  a  course  of  abstinence  pro- 
tracted through  many  years  to  ward  off  disease  from  a 
feeble  and  delicate  constitution.)  This  feature  in  her 
character  gave  great  value  to  her  advice.  Scarcely  an 
emergency  could  arise,  affecting  the  health,  or  the  estate 
or  the  moral  interests  of  others,  in  which  advantage 

184 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

might  not  be  derived  from  her.  Some  tried  and 
successful  prescription,  some  prudent  maxim,  some 
sound  principle  of  action,  would  be  furnished  by  her 
ready,  thoughtful  mind.  'Ointment  and  perfume  re- 
joice the  heart;  so  doth  the  sweetness  of  a  man's  friend 
by  hearty  counsel.'  And  how  often  has  this  effect 
occurred  with  many  of  those  who  now  hear  me.  In 
your  chambers  of  sickness  you  have  welcomed  her 
approach.  In  your  seasons  of  hesitancy  and  doubt, 
her  opinion  has  settled  the  question  and  ended  the 
difficulty. 

"This  good  sense  which  gave  value  to  her  advice  was 
also  seen  in  the  activity  of  her  life.  The  conviction 
fastened  upon  her  understanding  and  the  impressions 
made  upon  her  feelings  did  not  end  there.  They  became 
motives  of  action  and  sooner  or  later  the  results  were 
seen.  In  this  respect  she  differed  from  a  large  majority 
of  the  professors  of  religion.  Their  religious  character 
is  made  up  of  much  more  of  passive  impressions  than  of 
active  habits.  They  give  much  greater  signs  of  emotion 
than  she  did,  but  they  fail  in  future  exertion.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  truth  in  such  persons  is  like  the  influence 
of  the  shower  caught  upon  the  leaves  and  flowers, 
refreshing  somewhat,  it  is  true,  and  sparkling  in  the 
sunshine,  but  afterwards  exhaled.  The  influence  of  the 
truth  on  her  mind  was  like  that  of  the  rain  sinking  into 
the  earth,  penetrating  to  the  roots  and  to  be  seen 
afterwards  in  the  wider  expansion  and  deeper  color  of 
the  foliage.  .  .  .  This  leads  me  to  remark  upon  her 
uncommon  benevolence  by  which  she  was  distinguished. 
I  have  already  alluded  to  the  evidences  of  native  sweet- 
ness of  temper  furnished  by  her  very  countenance  and 
voice.     It  was  impossible  to  be  in  her  company  and 

185 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

hear  her  speak  without  a  delightful  persuasion  that  you 
were  in  the  presence  of  one  of  the  kindest  as  well  as 
most  candid  of  human  beings.  Whatever  was  her 
natural  endowment  in  this  respect,  they  had  no  doubt 
received  careful  parental  culture.  Deprived  of  a  mother's 
care  in  her  early  years,  she  became  the  object  of  her 
father's  tenderest  and  almost  indulgent  regard.  The 
affection  thus  lavished  upon  her  was  ardently  recipro- 
cated. An  incident  is  related,  illustrating  this  mutual 
attachment.  Her  father  had  taken  her  to  Charleston 
to  put  her  to  school.  To  make  the  pain  of  separation 
more  tolerable,  he  remained  sometime  in  the  city  to 
allow  her  opportunity  to  become  familiar  with  her  new 
situation  so  that  new  associations  might  come  in  to  fill 
in  some  degree  the  vacuum  occasioned  by  absence.  But 
when  the  appointed  day  for  his  departure  had  arrived 
she  clung  to  him  and  entreated  him  not  to  leave  her. 
'Father,'  she  said,  'I  am  your  only  (child),  and  if  I 
should  die  you  would  be  left  all  alone.'  Her  plea  pre- 
vailed and  she  was  permitted  to  return  home.  She  has 
been  known  to  allude  to  this  as  an  instance  of  the  great 
indulgence  allowed  her  in  her  childhood  and  as  an  unwise 
surrender  of  an  opportunity  for  scholastic  improve- 
ment, the  loss  of  which  she  often  regretted. 
To  do  unto  others  as  she  desired  others  to  do  unto  her 
was  the  principle  which  swayed  her  words  and  actions. 
Kindness  to  inferiors,  liberality  to  the  poor,  fidelity  in 
her  friendships  and  the  most  pleasing  courtesy  to  all, 
marked  the  even  tenor  of  her  way.  Without  children 
of  her  own  her  conjugal  connection  brought  her  into  the 
exercise  of  the  maternal  office,  a  sphere  of  action  which 
was  afterwards  increased  by  the  co-residence  of  General 
Williams'  family  and  the  family  of  his  sister,   Mrs. 

186 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Mary  Ann  Williams  Mclver.  With  several  young  per- 
sons thus  brought  under  her  care,  the  real  amiability 
of  her  temper  was  fairly  tested  and  the  testimony  of 
one  of  the  individuals  alluded  to  would,  I  am  persuaded, 
be  the  testimony  of  all,  'She  never  said  an  unkind  word 
to  me.'  Hers  was  one  of  the  few  cases  to  which  the 
remark  of  a  pithy  writer  will  apply.  'A  mother-in-law 
is  sometimes  a  mother  indeed.' 

"  It  affords  me  pleasure  in  this  connection  to  make  an 
extract  from  a  manuscript  of  the  sister-in-law,  Mrs. 
Mclver,  the  sentiments  of  which  do  equal  honor  to 
both.  After  mentioning  a  severe  affliction  which  had 
deprived  her  of  the  use  of  all  her  powers  for  weeks,  she 
says:  'Lord,  enable  me  to  profit  by  thy  correction; 
keep  me  from  dishonoring  thy  holy  name.  Whilst  I 
feel  all  the  faculties  of  body  failing,  the  mind  very  much 
enfeebled  and  impaired,  still  I  feel  thy  goodness  renewed 
every  morning  and  repeated  every  evening. 
My  Father,  and  my  Friend,  be  the  same  to  my  dear 
children  and  grand-children.  .  .  .  Reward  my  more 
than  sister,  my  mother,  for  the  thousand  instances  of 
affection  and  care  shown  me  by  her  untiring  patience 
and  affection  displayed  at  all  times  .  .  .  thanks  to 
God — and  dear  sister  too.  .  .  .  She  is  everything  to 
me,  child,  friend,  sister,  mother.  Next  to  my  God,  His 
cause,  her  I  would  not  hurt.     .     .     .' " 

At  one  season  her  pastor  and  his  family  enjoyed  the 
most  hospitable  entertainment  in  her  house  for  a  suc- 
cession of  months.  And  this  was  the  beginning  of  a 
series  of  the  most  delicate  attentions  continued  for 
several  years.  Her  annual  contributions  of  money 
toward  the  objects  specified  was  by  hundreds.  If  a 
church  was  to  be  built,  the  solicitors  of  aid  never  ap- 

187 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

pealed  to  her  in  vain;  and  it  is  an  interesting  thought 
that  the  nucleus  of  the  fund  provided  for  the  erection 
of  a  new  church  of  worship  here,  is  the  sum  of  several 
hundred  dollars,  an  unsought  donation  from  her  hands.* 
The  pleasure  enjoyed  by  several  persons,  how  many  I 
know  not,  of  reading  religious  papers  was  furnished  at 
her  cost.  And  in  multiplied  instances  her  bounty  has 
clothed  the  poor,  and  supplied  their  tables,  has  minis- 
tered wood  in  winter  and  medicine  in  sickness.  If  a 
case  of  distress  came  to  her  knowledge,  with  all  her 
equanimity,  she  was  restless  until  provision  was  made 
for  its  relief.  With  much  truth  might  she  have  used 
the  language  of  Job:  "When  the  ear  heard  me  then  it 
blessed  me;  because  I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  the 
fatherless  and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him.  The 
blessings  of  Him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came  upon 
me;  and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy." 
Like  the  dew  which  descends  in  silence  and  darkness 
and  is  revealed  by  the  morning  light,  her  various  bene- 
factions will  not  be  fully  known  till  the  dawn  of  the 
eternal  day. J* 

She  survived  General  Williams  ten  years  and  found 
herself  well  provided  for  by  her  affectionate  husband. 
"He  was  as  kind  as  he  was  virtuous"  was  the  sententious 
judgment  she  passed  upon  her  deceased  companion. 
And  it  was  no  idle  phrasing  of  beautiful  words.  In  the 
midst  of  her  death  scene,  she  asked  of  one  near  her  bed, 
if  it  was  not  the  16th  of  the  month,  and  after  an  interval 
she  inquired  if  she  knew  the  reason  of  her  asking  that 
question,  adding  to-morrow  will  be  ten  years  since  Mr. 
Williams'  death.  After  making  some  inquiries  about 
her  female  friends  who  had  sat  up  with  her,  "she  re- 

*She  left  a  legacy  of  about  (1,000  to  the  association. 

188 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

quested  a  book  to  be  brought  to  her.  It  was  a  beauti- 
ful copy  of  the  Bible.  Calling  for  one  who  was  par- 
ticularly dear  to  her  (Nicholas,  then  in  his  44th  year) 
and  addressing  him,  she  said :  I  wish  you  to  accept  this 
Bible  as  your  mother's  last  best  gift.  I  do  not  give  it 
to  you  because  I  do  not  believe  you  read  it;  but  this  is 
one  you  can  put  into  your  pocket,  and  I  wanted  to  give 
you  something  as  a  token  of  my  affection  and  I  have 
nothing  as  suitable  as  this.  I  hope  it  will  be  the  same 
comfort  to  you  that  it  has  been  to  me  these  many  years, 
and  particularly  in  this  last  trying  hour.  I  have  one 
request  to  make  and  I  know  S.  will  join  me  in  it,  and 
that  is  you  will  read  a  portion  of  it  daily  and  I  think  be- 
fore three  months  are  past  you  will  thank  your  mother 
for  making  the  request.  You  have  seen,  she  added, 
my  weak  hopes  and  trembling  faith,  but  I  would  not 
exchange  the  comfort  this  book  has  given  me  for  all  the 
world." 


189 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

HIS   INTEREST   IN   EDUCATION 

THE  elevation  which  the  St.  David's  Society 
selected  for  the  site  of  the  St.  David's  Academy 
received  the  name,  "Society  Hill."  Nearly  a 
century  ago  Mills  described  it  as  "not  the rus  in  urbe  nor 
urbs  in  rare,  but  a  group  of  houses  and  trees  commixed." 
The  present  village,  owing  to  its  competitive  surround- 
ings, has  not  kept  pace  with  the  growth  in  population 
and  in  modern  improvements,  but  it  has  been  made 
immortal  by  its  early  history,  by  the  succession  of  noble 
men  and  women  who  lived  there  and  by  the  two  oldest 
institutions,  the  Welsh  Neck  Church  (1738)  and  the 
St.  David's  Society  (1777).  In  the  latter  body,  whose 
organization,  objects  in  view  and  constitutional  rules 
are  found  in  Chapter  III,  David  Rogerson  Williams 
was  enrolled  on  May  31,  1798,  and  elected  warden,  also 
a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee,  which  had  visi- 
torial  powers  over  the  teachers  and  scholars,  and  the 
authority  to  repair  the  buildings,  to  engage  and  con- 
tract with  teachers  for  the  year,  and  to  supervise  the 
treasurer  and  secretary.  Being  an  absent  member  for 
three  years,  he  was  made  warden  in  anticipation  of  his 
return  which  took  place  before  the  July  meeting,  1803. 
In  April  following  he  attended  with  the  Standing 
Committee  a  public  examination  of  the  scholars  and 

190 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

found  their  progress  honorable  both  to  the  teachers 
and  to  themselves.  Before  the  May  meeting  in  1805 
he  made  a  tour  of  the  Northern  states  in  reference  to 
which,  Peter  Edwards,  the  efficient  chairman  of  the 
Standing  Committee,  reported:  "They  authorized  Mr. 
David  R.  Williams,  one  of  their  body,  during  an  excur- 
sion he  was  about  to  make  into  the  Northern  states,  to 
procure  a  teacher  for  the  Academy,  and  directed  him 
to  offer  for  this  purpose  five  hundred  dollars;  and  in 
consequence  of  an  application  made  by  him  to  Mr. 
Messer,  president  of  Rhode  Island  College,  your  com- 
mittee received  a  letter  from  that  gentleman  informing 
them  that  for  that  sum  he  could  not  procure  a  proper 
person."  Having  filled  the  office  of  warden  five  con- 
secutive years  he  was  made  president  of  the  Society  in 
1808,  and  with  a  full  quorum  of  members  of  the  Society, 
he  joined  in  July  in  the  procession  of  the  teachers  and 
scholars  to  the  church  and  attended  the  exhibition. 
In  his  second  term  as  warden,  an  office  with  more  re- 
sponsibility than  that  of  the  presidency,  he  was  made 
chairman  of  a  committee  to  inspect  the  lot  and  form  an 
opinion  whether  any  portion  of  it  could  be  judiciously 
sold,  or  exchanged,  and  on  what  terms.  The  chairman, 
now  Lieutenant-Colonel,  reported  that  in  their  opinion, 
"it  is  consistent  with  the  interests  of  the  Society  to 
dispose  of  one  portion  of  their  land  lying  westward  of 
Church  Avenue  and  northward  of  the  Camden  road,  in 
exchange  for  the  lot  of  land  on  which  the  store  of  Messrs. 
House  &  Company  is  now  situated  .  .  .  that  it 
is  also  expedient  to  dispose  of  to  the  highest  bidder 
the  remaining  part  .  .  .  reserving  therefrom  the 
Spring."  On  his  motion  Doctor  Hawes  was  permitted 
to  erect  and  hold  for  twenty  years  at  an  annual  rental 

191 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

of  one  cent,  a  house  upon  the  Society's  property,  for 
medical  and  surgical  purposes,  and  was  himself  as  head 
of  a  committee  given  full  authority  to  protect  the  school's 
"spring  north  of  the  liberty  pole  on  Society  Hill."  A 
committee  previously  appointed  to  consider  the  raising 
of  a  fund,  reported  July,  1810,  and  submitted  this 
resolution : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Society  petition  the  legislature 
for  permission  to  draw  a  lottery  and  also  to  give  them 
the  jail  and  acre  of  land  on  which  it  stands  on  the  Long 
Bluff  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  the  raising  of  a 
fund."  The  report  was  agreed  to  and  Colonel  Williams 
nominated  the  committee  to  carry  the  resolution  into 
effect  and  also  to  prepare  a  scheme  for  the  lottery  (to 
be  approved  by  the  Society)  and  to  superintend  the 
drawing  of  the  same.  He  was  then  added  to  the 
committee.  No  further  mention  in  the  minutes  is  made 
of  the  lottery,  and  they  had  slept  too  long  on  their  rights 
to  secure  the  abandoned  jail;  but  the  raising  of  a  fund 
received  an  impetus  from  another  quarter.  The  build- 
ing was  destroyed  by  fire  on  February  1,  1813,  in  the 
very  midst  of  the  war  and  money  stringency.  A  meet- 
ing was  held  the  next  day;  and  at  a  subsequent  larger 
meeting,  D.  R.  Williams,  John  D.  Witherspoon  and 
Peter  Edwards  were  authorized  to  erect  another  build- 
ing. In  the  meantime  the  school  met  in  the  church, 
and  by  motion  of  Colonel  Williams  the  windows  and 
doors  were  caused  to  be  shut  every  evening  and  the 
church  to  be  swept  and  the  benches  properly  arranged 
every  Friday  evening.  On  the  3d  of  July,  1813,  the 
minutes  contain  this  statement:  "Col.  Williams,  presi- 
dent of  the  Society,  having  been  appointed  Brigadier 
General  in  the  army  of  the  United  States  and  not  being 

192 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

present,  Maj.  Peter  Edwards  was  called  to  the  chair. 
A  letter  of  resignation  of  the  presidency  was  presented," 
etc.  In  May,  1814,  General  Williams,  chairman  of 
the  Building  Committee  in  a  season  of  individual  em- 
barrassment and  national  calamity,  reported  that  the 
finished  wooden  building  cost  $1,210,  of  which  $178 
was  not  yet  paid.  This  amount  was  covered  by  sub- 
scriptions; and  some  years  later  the  chairman  presented 
the  Society  $98,  apparently  to  pay  for  globes  and  other 
apparatus. 

As  Governor  of  the  state  he  was  ex-officio  a  trustee  of 
the  South  Carolina  College,  and  as  such  he  joined  in  the 
commencement  processions  (1815-1816)  as  he  had  done 
at  Society  Hill.  With  the  exception  of  one  four  years' 
term  he  served  the  state  as  a  trustee  of  the  college  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  While  attending  a  commence- 
ment in  Columbia  he  was  attracted  to  one  of  the  speak- 
ers, William  Smith,  with  whom  an  acquaintance  led  the 
latter  to  become  teacher  of  the  St.  David's  Academy 
about  1814.  He  resigned  at  the  end  of  1818  and  went 
to  France  to  study  medicine.  He  returned  to  Society 
Hill  and  became  General  Williams'  family  and  planta- 
tion physician.  Shortly  after  his  return  the  Library 
Society  was  formed*  and  the  Library  building,  now 
nearly  one  hundred  years  old,  erected.  All  its  records 
perished;  and  the  brief  tradition  that  Doctor  Smith 
was  authorized  to  purchase  the  books  makes  it  probable 
that  the  movers  in  the  enterprise  were  also  at  the  head 
of  the  school  interest.  In  1823  General  Williams 
moved  in  the  Society's  meeting  that  the  Academy  be 
transferred  to  a  situation  offered  by  D.  R.  W.  Mclver, 

*About  the  year  1822.  (Mrs.  Furman  E.  Wilson.)     In  1835  Mr.  Elias  Gregg  was 
librarian  and  John  K.  Mclver  was  an  officer. 

193 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

a  little  to  the  southward  and  westward  of  Doctor 
Smith's  residence  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road. 

The  education  of  the  children  of  the  poor  received 
early  and  earnest  consideration.  The  Society  and  the 
teacher  cared  for  five  or  more  annually,  and  the  desire 
to  protect  children  of  improvident  parents  caused  the 
good  women  of  Society  Hill  and  neighborhood  to  or- 
ganize the  Female  Benevolent  Society,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  secure  a  lot  and  house  suitable  for  a  Fe- 
male School  of  high  order,  presided  over  by  a  female 
teacher.  It  was  not  intended  to  exclude  pay  pupils, 
but  their  benevolence  was  stirred  by  "the  ignorance 
and  indolence  of  many  poor  children  around  us  who  are 
either  destitute  of  parents  to  guide  them,  or  whose  par- 
ents are  not  in  circumstances  to  furnish  them  the  first 
principles  of  such  instruction  as  is  necessary  for  their 
well  being."  One  of  the  leading  objects  was  to  encour- 
age virtuous  industry  in  any  kind  of  useful  labor.  The 
Society  founded  the  school  and  kept  it  up  twelve  or 
fourteen  years  and  finally  in  1833  the  Female  Academy 
was  given  in  exchange  for  the  Male  Academy  with  its 
ground  and  one  hundred  dollars.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  so  little  is  known  about  this  benevolent  under- 
taking. Mrs.  Elizabeth  Williams  was  one  of  its  sup- 
porters, and  with  her  husband's  acquaintance  with  the 
work  of  both  societies,  he  could  reiterate  in  his  old  age 
what  he  said  as  Governor:  "The  poor  are  educated  and 
the  educated  are  happy." 

His  associates  in  his  third  of  a  century  of  gratuitous 
educational  work  were  William  Falconer,  Thomas 
Park,  William,  John  and  Martin  DeWitt,  Evander 
Mclver,  Edward  Edwards,  Samuel  Wilds,  Jr.  and  Sr., 
Oliver   Hawes,    Thomas,    Samuel    and   Jesse    Evans, 

194 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Thomas  Powe,  Adam  Marshall,  Benjamin  Mosely, 
Gen.  R.  Ellison,  William  Zimmerman,  Frame  Woods, 
John  Kirvin,  John  F.  Wilson,  Moses  Sanders,  T.  Chap- 
man, George  Wilds,  James  and  William  House,  J. 
Cantey,  J.  E.  Mclver,  P.  K.  Mclver,  Jesse  DuBose, 
John  D.  Witherspoon,  John  Davis,  J.  W.  Davis,  Alex- 
ander Sparks,  Major  Pouncey,  Charles  DeWitt,  Rob- 
inson Carloss,  David  and  Elias  Gregg,  W.  L.  Thomas, 
J.  J.  Evans,  E.  Hanford,  E.  R.  Mclver,  Alexander 
Mclver,  Peter  Edwards,  John  M.  McCullough,  Thomas 
Smith,  J.  N.  Williams,  W.  Mclver,  J.  J.  Marshall, 
T.  H.  Edwards,  Charles  M.  DeWitt,  Wm.  A.  Snipes  and 
others. 

In  the  library  building  was  held  the  last  meeting  of 
the  St.  David's  Society  at  which  General  Williams  was 
present.  John  D.  Witherspoon,  J.  J.  Evans,  J.  K. 
Mclver,  Alexander  Sparks,  D.  R.  W.  Mclver,  J.  N. 
Williams,  Elias  Gregg  and  the  president  were  managing 
a  village  school  with  less  than  fifty  boys  and  girls.  With 
talent  and  financial  ability  sufficient  to  endow  and  direct 
a  college,  they  willingly  employed  their  time  and  talent 
in  securing  teachers,  in  keeping  the  building  repaired, 
and  in  paying  the  annual  expenses.  Through  a  com- 
mittee they  regulated  the  details,  named  the  kinds  of 
punishments  and  their  limits,  took  care  of  the  building 
with  its  furniture,  and  in  one  case  unanimously  prose- 
cuted a  man  who  went  to  the  school  and  without 
provocation  struck  the  teacher.  General  Williams  was 
only  one  of  the  number  engaged  in  this  laudable  but 
not  spectacular  work.  He  was  fashioned  in  a  measure 
in  the  atmosphere  of  the  St.  David's  Society  in  his 
early  days,  and  in  turn  as  the  leading  citizen,  he  magni- 
fied its  work  and  influence.     He  had  no  children  to 

195 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

educate,  and  there  was  no  lack  of  talent  to  take  his 
place.  He  had  filled  the  office  of  Governor,  Congress- 
man and  Major-General,  but  he  held  on  to  his  place 
in  the  Society,  not  for  its  honor,  nor  the  pleasure  of 
social  intercourse,  nor  because  he  was  an  original  Jeffer- 
sonian  Democrat;  it  was  from  a  sense  of  the  importance 
of  primary  education.  He  had  the  knack — whether  by 
intuition  or  analytical  powers  of  mind — of  stripping  a 
subject  of  its  accidents  and  of  finding  and  knowing  the 
primal  and  fundamental,  the  essence  of  things.  This 
he  did  in  politics,  agriculture,  manufacturing  and  in 
education.  His  interest  in  education  and  not,  as  it  is 
commonly  received  of  aged  men,  the  love  of  money, 
was  the  last  of  his  endowments  to  wither  under  the 
touch  of  time  and  the  weight  of  years.  Taken  in 
connection  with  his  large  interests  and  his  growing 
influence  in  every  department  open  to  capable  and 
ambitious  men,  it  is  a  phenomenon  not  often  seen  and 
not  easy  of  explanation.  God  had  joined  together  igno- 
rance and  poverty,  but  by  a  diffusion  of  knowledge  he 
believed  they  might  be  exchanged  for  skill  and  plenty. 
See  in  the  last  chapter  what  his  educational  efforts  pre- 
ceded or  led  to. 


196 


CHAPTER  XIX 

COTTON   OIL   FACTORY 

THE  announcement  made  in  1829  and  in  1859 
that  a  cotton  seed  huller  had  been  perfected 
caused  several  scribes  to  examine  old  files  of 
papers  to  see  to  whom  the  rightful  credit  belonged.  On 
the  basis  of  their  reports  as  found  in  the  Columbia 
Telescope,  American  Farmer,  Southern  Rural  Gentleman, 
Pee  Dee  Gazette,  DeBow's  Review  and  the  Farmer  and 
Planter,  a  brief  account  of  the  efforts  leading  to  the 
invention  will  show  how  General  Williams  was  sand- 
wiched in  between  the  chemists  and  inventors  who 
preceded  him  and  the  monumental  indifference  of  the 
planters  of  the  next  thirty  years,  absorbed  in  politics 
and  cotton  raising. 

The  cotton  gin,  invented  in  1793,  gave  an  impetus  to 
cotton  culture  such  as  had  not  been  seen  in  5,000  years; 
and  the  seed,  whose  oleaginous  qualities  had  long  been 
known,  was  piling  up  in  larger  quantities  every  year. 
The  oft-repeated  story  that  cotton  seed  was  dumped 
into  streams  must  be  taken  with  some  reservation.  The 
value  of  the  seed  was  quickly  discovered  in  neighbor- 
hoods led  by  thoughtful  men,  while  the  knowledge  of 
its  worth  spread  more  slowly  in  others.  How  early  the 
farmers  in  South  Carolina  used  it  as  a  cow  food  or  as  a 
fertilizer  direct  from  the  gin  is  not  so  well  known  as  the 

197 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

fact  that  agricultural  information  did  not  travel  over 
the  state  with  the  same  speed  as  political  news. 

In  1804  a  chemist  and  druggist  of  Philadelphia,  Dr. 
George  Hunter,  made  some  experiment  with  cotton 
seed  oil,  and  being  impressed  with  the  possibilities  of 
the  venture,  went  to  New  Orleans  to  put  up  a  factory, 
but  not  being  pleased  with  the  situation  abandoned  the 
undertaking.  Another  Northerner  ordered  in  1806  nine 
bushels  of  cotton  seed  from  Charleston,  and  caused  an 
experiment  to  be  made  to  ascertain  the  quality  of  the 
oil  it  would  yield  by  the  process  usually  practiced  in 
extracting  oil  from  flax  seed.  It  proved  to  be  both 
abundant  and  of  a  quality  quite  equal,  if  not  superior, 
to  flax  seed  oil  for  painting.  About  1818  a  Colonel 
Clarke  made  experiments  with  oil  of  cotton  for  burning 
in  lamps  and  pronounced  it  after  actual  comparison 
with  spermacetic  oil  "decidedly  the  best."  Oil  was 
now  selling  at  80  cents  a  gallon. 

"Early  in  1822, "  said  Dr.  M.  W.  Philips,  an  ex-South 
Carolinian,  "an  article  appeared  in  the  Pee  Dee  Ga- 
zette, a  paper  published  near  the  home  where  General 
Williams  lived,  called  public  attention  to  cotton  seed 
oil  and  calculated  that  a  clear  income  of  $6,000,000 
could  then  be  added  to  Southern  resources  by  making 
oil,"  and  then  "the  remainder  of  the  seed  is  equal  in 
value  to  corn  meal  for  feeding  cattle."  "I  remember 
distinctly,"  continued  Mr.  Philips,  "of  seeing  the 
huller  at  work  in  S.  C.  before  I  saw  Mississippi.  .  .  . 
Having  distinct  remembrance  of  this  oil  matter,  I 
stated  to  several  editors  what  was  my  recollection. 
After  writing  the  article,  I  concluded  I  would  turn  to 
mine  ancient  archives  and  bring  to  light  the  facts.  I 
append  here  sundry  extracts  from  Southern  papers  and 

198 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

request  those  now  living  who  remember  these  news- 
papers or  who  may  have  any  proof  to  the  contrary  of 
what  I  here  state,  to  bring  it  forth  or  let  it  be  understood 
that  what  I  produce  are  facts.  Gen.  D.  R.  Williams 
has  relations  living  who  can  perhaps  produce  all  proof 
needed.  He  was  once  Governor  of  South  Carolina, 
member  of  Congress,  a  prolific  writer,  his  heart  set  on 
agriculture  and  all  the  improvements  of  the  day  and  a 
man  who  deserves  more  a  monument  to  his  memory, 
by  the  tillers  of  Carolina's  soil,  than  all  their  battle 
host."  What  Dr.  Philips  had  been  trying  to  establish 
about  General  Williams  is  not  clear,  but  the  next  from 
his  archives  lands  us  at  the  beginning  of  real  progress 
in  the  oil  industry — the  advertisement  of  Follet  and 
Smith  in  1829  of  their  cotton  seed  huller.  Hitherto 
machinery  for  expressing  flax  seed  oil  or  castor  bean  oil 
had  been  used  in  experiments,  but  now  one  made  for  the 
purpose  is  on  the  market.  This  firm  at  Petersburg, 
Virginia,  was  soon  in  correspondence  with  General 
Williams  and  made  a  liberal  trial  offer  of  their  machine. 
He  had  accepted  the  offer  and  ordered  the  machine  in 
August,  1829:  "A  machine  is  to  be  sent  me  on  account 
of  the  patentees  to  be  tried  sixty  days  and  if  I  do  not 
purchase,  to  be  paid  for  according  to  estimate  of  the 
benefit  received  in  the  trial.  If  purchased  the  machine 
to  cost  $150,  the  patent  rights  less  $250,  but  has  much 
less  to  be  settled  hereafter,  they  looking  to  other  cir- 
cumstances for  their  reward,  in  my  setting  it  up  as  they 
avow.  I  have  written  to  Jonathan  Coit  of  New  Lon- 
don, near  whom  the  oil  mill  is  now  making  by  a  Mr. 
Gideon  P.,  for  information  as  to  the  process,  quantity, 
&c.  Also  to  a  Mr.  Ruggles  of  N.  Y.  patentees  of  an 
invention  for  purifying  oil  of  all  kinds,  for  information 

199 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

concerning  his  discovery."  Thus  wrote  General  Wil- 
liams to  Colonel  Chesnut.  About  a  month  later  Gen- 
eral Williams,  being  surprised  at  the  silence  of  the 
newspaper  over  so  important  a  matter,  wrote  to  the 
Telescope  in  a  style  intended  to  excite  interest  in  the 
cotton  seed  huller:  "I  cannot  doubt  that  you  have  seen 
the  account,  somewhere  since  published  in  a  Petersburg 
paper,  of  the  machine  invented  for  hulling  cotton  seed. 
If  my  hopes  have  not  deceived  my  judgment,  on  the 
consequences  which  may  result  from  this  discovery,  it 
is  a  subject  of  just  surprise  that  its  immediate  impor- 
tance to  the  Southern  States  has  induced  no  notice  of 
it  by  the  editors  of  the  public  prints. 

"Every  one  who  has  had  anything  to  do  with  cotton 
seed,  knows  it  contains  a  great  deal  of  oil.  Many 
persons  have,  from  time  to  time,  made  efforts  to  extract 
the  oil;  I  among  the  number  to  no  valuable  purpose. 
The  thought  had  never  occurred  to  me  that  it  might  be 
hulled  like  rice,  so  as  to  separate  the  kernels  which 
contain  all  the  oil.  This  is  now  accomplished  by 
Messrs.  Follet  and  Smith,  with  all  the  facility  as  to 
attendance  and  execution,  of  grinding  corn.  Their  in- 
vention as  I  understand  it,  consists  of  a  granite  cylinder, 
revolving  within  convex  pieces  of  the  same  substance, 
faced  and  placed  in  a  particular  manner.  A  hopper 
over  the  stone  supplies  the  seed;  a  wire  sieve  under  it 
separates  the  hull  from  the  kernel,  dropping  through 
the  current  of  air,  from  a  wind  fan,  is  delivered  clean 
and  ready  for  the  press. 

"Every  1,000  pounds  of  green  seed  cotton  will  yield 
30  bushels  of  seed,  three  bushels  of  kernels,  two  gallons 
of  oil.  This,  in  its  raw  state,  has  long  been  known  to 
be  only  a  little  inferior  to  flax  seed  oil,  for  all  purposes 

200 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

to  which  this  last  has  been  applied.  The  price,  true 
value  and  ornament  which  this  produces  throughout 
the  country,  are  objects  of  so  much  importance  that 
a  cheaper  substance  is  extremely  desirable.  The  proc- 
ess of  expressing  cotton  seed  oil  is  said  to  be  less  ex- 
pensive than  that  of  flax  seed.  As  paint  oil  alone,  the 
cotton  seed  oil  must  be  very  valuable,  at  least  quite 
enough  so  to  induce  attention;  the  great  consumption 
of  it,  however,  will  probably  be  for  light  and  machinery, 
if  it  can  be  rendered  suitable  for  these  objects,  without 
too  much  expense,  of  which  as  yet  I  have  no  doubt. 
.  .  .  These  are  some  of  the  circumstances  on  which 
I  have  flattered  myself  that  a  new  and  general  source 
of  income  is  opening  to  our  abused  country,  and  may 
probably  be  considered  by  you,  as  entitled  to  your 
attention.  To  discover  new  resources  of  the  state,  to 
point  to  paths  of  prosperity  not  yet  trodden,  altho' 
not  so  animating  as  to  lead  the  charge  of  political  con- 
flict, is  not  less  appropriate  to  your  profession  and  may 
leave  an  abiding  consolation,  to  hearts  like  yours,  alive 
to  public  prosperity. 

"I  presume  then,  I  am  not  about  to  ask  a  reluctant 
service  of  you.  As  one  of  your  readers,  then,  I  shall 
be  very  glad  to  see  the  results  of  such  reflections  and 
inquiries  as  you  may  be  disposed  to  give  in  relation  to 
the  general  views  this  subject  may  present;  and  particu- 
larly, as  the  relative  value  of  cotton  seed  oil,  compared 
with  other  oils,  and  the  quantity  which  may  be  pro- 
duced in  the  Southern  country.  You  are  near  the 
sources  of  great  knowledge;  and  possibly,  at  a  word, 
might  have  all  your  questions  answered;  perhaps, 
either  for  practical  objects,  or  as  an  amusement  by 
chemical  experiments,  it  may  have  been  already  satis- 

201 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

factorily  tested,  how  far  the  glutenous  matter,  in  some 
vegetables  and  other  oils,  may  be  extracted  so  as  to 
render  them  suitable  for  lamps  and  machinery,  without 
deducting  too  much  from  their  quality;  or  the  process 
being  too  expensive. 

"Tell  us  whence  comes  the  oil  for  lamps  and  machin- 
ery? How  many  thousands  are  appropriated  by  Con- 
gress for  Light  Houses  alone?  What  does  it  cost  the 
City  of  Charleston  and  Columbia  to  light  their  streets? 
What  number  of  gallons  are  annually  exported?  How 
many  whalemen  fitted  out?  What  seas  and  oceans 
vexed*  to  procure  it?  Oil  for  lamps  and  machinery 
has  become  a  great  and  increasing  necessary  article  of 
consumption  every  where.  If  the  enterprising  Yan- 
kees find  it  profitable  to  explore  all  the  waters  of  the 
mighty  deep  for  it,  absurd  indeed  would  it  be  for  us  to 
suffer  our  exhaustless  stock,  lying  as  it  were  at  every 
man's  door,  from  which  we  may  obtain  it,  to  remain 
longer  unemployed.  For  myself  these  inquiries  might 
have  been  made  privately.  You  can  scarcely  be  at  a 
loss  to  conjecture  why  I  prefer  to  see  them  spread 
before  the  public.  I  believe  our  cotton  seed  which  has 
been  hitherto  used  only  as  a  manure,  may  be  converted 
into  oil  and  sold  at  a  great  profit;  certain  am  I,  if  you 
will  instruct  the  cotton  planter  how  he  may  add  $10 
value  to  the  labor  which  now  produces  him  a  bale  of 
cotton,  you  will  do  him  a  great  favor  and  be  moreover 
the  conductor  of  a  reasonable  reward  to  the  inventor  of 
a  machine  which  will  probably  rank  in  the  cotton 
country  second  only  to  the  Whitney  Gin. " 

The  cotton  seed  huller  reached  the  Pee  Dee,  was  set 
up  and  tested  with  the  seed  made  in  1829.     So  well 

•A  reminiscence  of  Horace. 

202 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

pleased  was  General  Williams  that  he  indited  the  follow- 
ing warm  commendation  of  the  machine,  along  with 
certain  observations  and  predictions,  found  in  the 
Camden  Journal  and  in  the  "Williams  Family": 

"Messrs.  Follet  and  Smith,  Petersburg,  Va. 

"Gentlemen:  Your  favor  reached  me  in  due  course  of 
the  mail.  I  have  not  replied  earlier,  because  our  oil 
mill  was  so  nearly  finished.  I  preferred  to  delay  the 
acknowledgement  till  I  could  speak  from  facts  resulting 
from  my  own  experiments;  and  although  these  have 
not  been  carried  out  as  far  as  I  propose,  they  are  quite 
enough  as  to  satisfy  my  own  mind  fully.  In  relation  to 
your  'cotton  seed  huller',  I  am  gratified  to  be  able  to  say, 
it  performs  all  that  you  have  promised  for  it,  and, 
moreover,  is  so  easily  comprehended,  ours  has  been  set 
up  and  put  into  operation  by  persons  who  never  saw 
one  before.  Our  oil  mill  is  after  the  Dutch  mode,  of 
pestles  and  wedges.  Our  grinding  stones  are  not  quite 
four  feet  in  diameter  and  twelve  inches  thick.  The 
cotton  seed  kernels  are  so  much  easier  to  grind  than 
flax  seed,  these  stones  as  small  as  they  are,  may  easily 
grind  for  two  pair  of  pestles  and  wedges.  That  the 
whole  process  is  simple  and  not  difficult  to  understand 
you  will  infer  when  I  tell  you,  no  person  concerned 
about  ours,  except  myself,  has  ever  seen  an  oil  mill 
before.  You  are  aware  that  I  attempted  last  winter 
to  enlist  the  public  generally  in  favor  of  your  invention 
by  a  few  pieces  in  the  Columbia  Telescope,  signed 
Cotton  Planter.  These  were  founded  on  information 
with  which  I  have  been  favored.  You  may  be  certain 
of  the  satisfaction  I  feel  in  having  tested  by  actual 
experiment  that  those  statements  were  perfectly  cor- 

203 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

rect.  In  relation  to  the  uses  to  which  cotton  seed  oil 
may  be  applied,  it  is  almost  superfluous  to  include 
painting,  as  that  fact  is  fully  settled.  The  same  proc- 
ess which  is  indispensable  to  make  flax  seed  oil  dry 
produces  the  same  effect  with  this.  There  are  good 
judges  who  pronounce  it  to  have  a  better  body  and 
therefore  superior;  considering  to  what  extent  the  adul- 
teration of  linseed  oil  has  been  carried,  owing  to  decrease 
of  material,  it  is  not  hazardous  to  say  that  cotton  seed 
oil  ought  to  be  preferred.  Without  resorting  to  any  of 
the  patented  methods  of  refining  oil,  I  have  succeeded 
by  a  very  simple  and  cheap  process  to  refine  our  oil  so 
as  to  answer  all  the  purposes  of  the  best  sperm  oil,  in 
our  cotton  factory.  Our  superintendent,  Mr.  Hopkins, 
has  been  very  careful  to  compare  it  with  as  good  sperm 
oil  as  I  ever  saw,  and  is  entirely  satisfied  with  its  equal- 
ity with  it.  In  its  present  state  we  find  it  burns  very 
well  by  a  little  attention  to  the  wick.  By  other  means 
than  those  I  have  as  yet  used,  I  am  satisfied  it  will  be 
much  superior  to  the  best  animal  oil  lamps,  it  being 
entirely  inodorous,  a  circumstance  of  great  importance 
in  establishments  requiring  many  lights. " 

The  remainder  of  the  letter  deals  with  another  matter 
of  no  little  importance  to  the  state  and  the  South:  "The 
residue  of  the  kernels,  after  the  oil  is  expressed,  called 
oil  cake,  is  excellent  for  stock  generally,  particularly 
for  milch  cows  and  pigs.  If  your  invention  could  do 
nothing  more  than  convert  cotton  seed  into  wholesome 
food  for  stock,  it  would  still  be,  in  my  opinion,  of  infi- 
nite importance  to  the  whole  Southern  country.  The 
planter  who  makes  four  bags  of  cotton  to  the  hand,  will 
now  with  your  aid,  have  in  addition  to  his  grain,  forty 

204 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

bushels  of  good  food  also  per  hand  more  than  equal  to 
that  quantity  of  oats.  In  New  England,  it  is  preferred 
pound  for  pound  to  oats.  No  man  is  so  dull  as  not  to 
see  the  consequence  to  his  people  and  to  his  purse,  must 
be  alike  agreeable,  it  being  a  self-demonstrable  proposi- 
tion, there  is  no  scarcity,  where  milk  and  pigs  are  abund- 
ant. The  only  use  to  which  we  can  now  apply  cotton 
seed  is  for  manure. 

"The  same  quantity  fed  to  stock  may  with  ordinary 
care  that  every  planter  is  competent  to  bestow,  elabo- 
rate ten  times  the  quantity.  Thus  much  for  the  facts. 
You  will  not  consider  me  an  enthusiast  when  I  add  I 
have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  time  will  come 
when,  owing  primarily  to  your  invention,  cotton  seed 
oil  will  also  enter  largely  into  the  food  of  man.  From 
these  considerations,  I  earnestly  hope  you  may  receive 
a  very  handsome  remuneration  for  your  discovery;  more 
you  ought  not  to  ask." 

To  his  desire  to  enlist  the  interest  of  the  public  in  the 
invention  which  was  to  open  a  new  source  of  income,  we 
owe  these  letters  which  bring  into  clear  light  the  very 
beginning  of  successful  prosecution  of  the  oil  business 
in  South  Carolina.  He  was  surprised  at  the  silence  of 
the  newspapers  regarding  so  great  a  discovery;  and  his 
astonishment  must  have  been  greater,  when  his  an- 
nouncement that  the  machine  was  all  that  it  claimed  to 
be  fell  on  unresponsive  ears.  Why  did  planters,  at 
whose  gins  large  piles  of  cotton  seed  were  heaped  an- 
nually, not  hail  the  huller  as  a  friend  in  time  of  need? 

Influential  opposition  met  the  huller  on  the  threshold. 
His  article  in  the  Telescope,  advocating  its  general  use 
in  the  belief  that  it  was  to  be  a  source  of  profit,  was 
followed  in  the  same  paper  with  a  confident  argument 

205 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

that  the  seed  was  worth  more  as  a  fertilizer;  and  the 
same  conditions  which  made  cotton  manufactories 
languish  also  operated  against  cotton  oil  factories. 
The  professors  in  the  college  were  giving  tone  to  society 
and  leading,  not  to  new  paths  of  agricultural  progress 
but  in  the  charge  of  political  conflict,  and  the  tariff 
burden  made  the  conservative  farmers  more  conserva- 
tive in  resisting  innovations. 

His  opportunity  of  experimenting  was  limited  to  less 
than  a  year,  but  in  that  time  he  found  a  use  for  his  oil 
in  lighting  his  home  and  factory,  painting  his  establish- 
ment, and  a  feed  in  his  meal  which  would  banish  scar- 
city by  filling  the  milk  pail  and  fattening  pigs.  Just 
one  month  before  his  exit,  October  17,  1830,  he  wrote 
to  his  friend  Ghesnut:  "You  forgot  your  oil  barrels 
again,  when  your  wagons  came  over.  We  shall  recom- 
mence making  oil  in  a  few  days  and  barrels  are  just  as 
necessary  as  cotton  seed.  Magwood  has  promised  me 
some.  They  are  not  to  be  had  here.  I  do  not  expect 
to  make  less,  before  again  stop,  unless  again  the  water 
shall  fail,  than  4,000  gallons  at  least.  Now  it  is  no 
immaterial  affair  to  find  casks  to  put  it  in.  A  new 
difficulty  arose  shortly  after  the  water  was  let  into  the 
oil  mill  canal.  The  entire  foundation  of  the  mill  and 
near  about  it,  is  of  the  coarsest  and  most  porous  sand, 
this  suffered  the  water  to  ouse  through  it  and  rise  in  the 
oil  mill.  I  had  suspected  it,  and  ditched  around  the 
mill  and  puddled  it  properly;  but  the  water  passed 
under  the  puddling  and  rises  in  the  mill  cellar.  I  am 
now  opening  a  large  ditch  around  it,  below  the  founda- 
tion, for  the  purpose  of  laying  down  the  trunks,  with 
the  bottom  board  knocked  off,  that  we  had  made  to 
convey  the  water  to  the  water  wheel,  so  as  to  carry  off 

206 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

the  water;  and  into  which  I  shall  insert  a  small  spout 
from  under  the  mill  foundation  so  as  to  lead  off  the  water 
from  the  cellar,  if  any  shall  still  get  into  it.  If  this 
fails,  I  shall  be  hors  de  combat.  But  for  this  circum- 
stance, the  oil  mill  would  have  been  at  work.  When  it 
shall  be,  I  pray  you  send  for  some  oil.  I  am  satisfied 
from  actual  proof,  it  is  better  for  outside  work  than 
linseed,  I  have  not  tried  it  for  inside  yet.  All  the 
buildings  belonging  to  the  establishment  are  painted 
and  as  I  assure  you,  they  look  well  at  a  distance  at  least. 
When  will  you  come  and  see  them?  The  approval  of 
anybody  is  encouraging — yours  is  to  me,  animating  in 
the  highest  degree." 

Absorbed  in  farming,  manufacturing  cotton,  cotton 
seed  products  and  in  politics,  he  had  at  the  same  time, 
unlike  the  majority  of  his  contemporaries,  the  power 
to  "contract  the  sight  of  his  mind  as  well  as  dilate  it." 
He  saw  in  the  oil  and  meal  products  a  substantial  addi- 
tion to  the  planter's  income.  The  drawbacks  were 
getting  barrels  and  finding  and  opening  markets  for  the 
oil,  both  of  which  tasks  he  was  fitted  to  grapple  with 
successfully.  He  was  not  a  discoverer  or  inventor  in 
the  oil  business;  he  may  not  have  built  the  first  oil  mill 
in  the  state — not  counting  the  castor  oil  concerns  in 
several  districts — but  he  was  certainly  the  first  one  who 
built  a  mill,  experimented,  satisfied  himself  of  its  real 
value  to  the  large  planter  and  openly  proclaimed  in  the 
face  of  an  unwilling  public  the  great  value  of  the  in- 
vention. Nevertheless  his  success  was  so  completely 
forgotten  that  Governor  Seabrook  in  1848  and  Senator 
Hammond  in  1849  did  not  mention  oil  in  their  memor- 
able addresses  before  the  farmers  as  one  of  the  "capabili- 
ties" of  South  Carolina  Agriculture.     The  cotton  mill 

207 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

interest  revived  but  the  cotton  oil  industry  passed  out 
of  mind.  His  loss  to  the  state  at  the  juncture  was 
serious  in  any  aspect  of  the  situation;  but  he  above  all 
others  was  needed  to  show  the  way  and  open  a  market 
for  oil  and  meal.  Fifty  years  thereafter  were  to  roll 
around  with  the  growing  bulk  of  cotton  seed  a  loss  to 
the  state  and  to  the  world,  except  as  an  animal  food  in 
some  localities  and  as  a  fertilizer  valued  at  less  than 
fifteen  cents  per  bushel  by  some  observant  planters. 

After  his  death  a  few  notices  are  found  about  spo- 
radic efforts  in  Florida,  New  Jersey  and  Rhode  Island, 
with  cotton  seed  quoted  at  15  cents  per  bushel  and  oil  at 
80  cents  per  gallon.  In  July,  1859,  Charles  Cist,  statis- 
tician of  Cincinnati,  wrote  an  elaborate  article  in  De- 
Bow's  Review  to  show  that  the  enormous  value  of  the 
cotton  crop,  great  as  it  was,  was  not  near  what  it  should 
be,  were  the  oil  expressed  from  the  seed.  The  3,600,000 
bales  of  the  last  crop  produced  3,960,000,000  pounds  of 
seed,  which  contained  87,120,000  gallons  worth  88  cents, 
and  762,000  tons  of  oil  cake,  both  oil  and  cake,  valued 
at  $106,177,500.  The  nature  and  uses  of  the  oil  had 
been  ascertained  in  respect  to  pharmaceutical  and 
lubricatory  purposes  and  a  higher  value  was  put  on  it 
than  any  other  manufactured  in  the  United  States. 
William  R.  Fee  of  Cincinnati  had  succeeded  in  con- 
structing a  cotton  seed  huller  upon  "a  new  principle" 
of  cracking  the  hulls  and  separating  them  from  the 
kernels.  It  had  been  "brought  to  the  last  degree  of 
efficiency  and  perfection  and  is  held  under  letters  pat- 
ent." The  oil  business  was  assuming  some  dimensions 
in  New  Orleans  and  it  was  causing  discussions  in  the 
more  eastern  papers  as  to  whom  the  credit  of  the  in- 
vention belonged.  The  editor  of  the  Farmer  and  Planter, 

208 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Columbia,  S.  C,  summed  up  the  situation  in  a  stand- 
pat  way:  "The  very  fact  that  the  invention  has  been 
so  long  before  the  public  and  produced  so  little  fruit,  is 
sufficient  evidence  of  its  little  value,  to  our  mind;  and 
now  that  every  body  has  become  willing  to  admit  the 
value  of  the  cotton  seeds  as  a  manure,  it  will  hardly 
pay  to  convert  it  into  oil  and  cake.'* 

The  first  postbellum  mill*  in  the  state  was  built  in 
Columbia  in  1868,  but  it  was  soon  closed  by  falling  prices 
and  want  of  a  market — a  fate  which  could  not  have 
overtaken  General  Williams'  cotton  seed  huller,  and 
other  appliances,  in  the  day  of  small  things.  Another 
decade  passed  before  modern  mills  began  their  career  of 
so  great  expansion  that  in  1914  there  were  in  South  Caro- 
lina 100  establishments,  $1,452,027  invested,  $15,347,711 
in  the  value  of  the  products,  411,272  tons  crushed, 
46,980  linters.  The  highest  price  paid  per  ton  of  seed 
was  $20.92. 

*Mr.  Christopher  Fitzsimons  in  News  and  Courier,  centennial  edition. 


209 


CHAPTER  XX 

HIS   MAIN   BUSINESS 

FIVE  plantations  were  under  the  supervision  of 
General  Williams  after  he  had  made  liberal 
gifts  to  his  sister  and  her  sons  and  to  his  own 
son  Nicholas.  The  aggregate  number  of  acres  at  any 
particular  time  is  not  easily  ascertained,  because  of 
additions  and  subtractions.  In  its  largest  dimensions, 
the  estate  included  nine  plantations  with  an  aggregate 
of  about  12,950  acres;  but  in  the  last  years  of  his  life, 
the  five  plantations,  probably  over  7,000  acres,  com- 
prised the  whole  estate  on  the  Pee  Dee.  He  kept  a 
colony  of  slaves  and  an  overseer,  white  or  colored, 
at  the  Upper  Quarter,  Middle  Quarter,  Barn  plantation, 
Plumbfield  and  at  the  Factory.  He  had  no  automo- 
biles to  skim  over  his  weary  miles  of  roads,  but  was  well 
supplied  with  vehicles  and  saddle  horses.  He  was  an 
early  riser,  and  in  the  work  season  was  accustomed  to 
mount  his  horse,  with  umbrella  and  other  articles  needed 
in  a  sudden  change  of  the  weather,  strapped  to  his 
saddle.  With  his  shotgun  or  rifle  and  dogs,  he  went 
through  the  woods  and  byways  to  the  field  where  his 
hands  and  overseer  had  begun  the  day's  work.  It  re- 
quired no  effort  on  his  part  as  he  went  by  the  homes  of 
his  friends,  situated  off  the  roads,  to  pass  the  morning 
salutation  or  inquire  after  the  health  of  the  family. 

210 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Powerful  lungs  aided  him  in  the  Northern  army  and 
served  him  well  in  transmitting  orders  to  his  hands  over 
his  level  stretches  of  fields.  Game  had  become  scarce 
in  the  new  century,  but  the  partridge,  fox,  wild  turkey 
and  the  deer*  have  continued  to  this  day  in  diminished 
numbers.  It  is  assumed  that  he  was  of  too  active  tem- 
perament to  be  a  fisherman  even  on  the  Pee  Dee  where 
his  friend  David  Gregg  had  extensive  arrangements  for 
catching  shad  and  sturgeon  which  came  up  the  river. 
There  is  not  a  solitary  hint  that  he  was  ever  a  disciple 
of  Izaak  Walton.  For  some  twenty-five  years  he  re- 
tired in  summer  and  autumn,  after  the  crops  were  laid 
by,  to  the  Rocky  River  Springs  in  North  Carolina, 
where  he  had  a  summer  residence,  a  billiard  table, 
hounds  for  hunting  deer  and  congenial  neighbors  from 
the  Pee  Dee  for  society.  Hospitality  was  as  much  a 
part  of  plantation  life  as  slavery  or  the  culture  of  corn 
or  cotton.  "The  latch  hangs  on  the  outside  of  the 
door'*  was  the  proverbial  invitation  to  neighbors. 
There  were  great  plenty  in  the  homes  and  great  skill  in 
the  kitchen.  The  barnyard  with  its  fowls  and  eggs,  the 
dairy  with  its  milk  and  butter,  the  pantry  with  its 
precious  stores  and  the  smokehouse  with  its  hams  and 
delicacies,  were  all  brought  under  requisition  to  serve 
the  family  and  its  friends.  That  was  true  of  the  whole 
state,  but  at  Society  Hill,  Judge  Wilds,  General  Wil- 
liams, Judge  Evans,  Doctor  Smith,  John  Campbell, 
Robert  Campbell,  John  McQueen,  John  D.  Wither- 
spoon,  Isaac  D.  Wilson,  Samuel  Sparks,  Thos.  Falconer, 
Caleb  Coker,  Dr.  John  K.  Mclver,  James  H.  Mcintosh, 

•In  conversation  with  Rev.  W.  M  Hartin  of  Society  Hill  and  Mr.  Bright  Williamson 
of  Darlington  it  transpired  that  one  had  killed  a  wild  turkey  and  the  other  several 
deer  in  the  late  season. 

211 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Boykin  Witherspoon,  the  Greggs,  McCullough,  et  al. — 
all  had  the  same  beaten  biscuit,  the  same  cooking,  beef- 
steak, gumbo,  dry  cooked  rice,  fried  chicken,  peach, 
strawberry,  blackberry  preserves,  all  had  their  clothes 
brushed,  their  horses  groomed  alike;  all  were  gentlemen. 
All  used  wines  and  liquors.  One  or  two  got  drunk. 
(DuBose.)  General  Williams  was  a  temperate  man  but 
not  a  puritan;  he  retained  all  his  life  a  love  for  social 
sports  and  pastimes.  In  his  last  year  he  wrote  to  a  friend : 
"I  hope  some  or  all  your  precious  daughters  will  give 
me  a  chance  to  be  lively  soon.  I  long  to  be  at  a  wedding 
or  dance  or  frolic  of  some  sort  or  other,  no  great  odds 
which,  if  I  get  a  chance  to  laugh  and  be  happy.  To 
laugh  and  be  fat  is  a  primary  duty  of  life." 

"The  house  of  General  Williams,"  said  the  Camden 
Journal,  "was  the  home  of  hospitality."  In  1827 
Martin  Van  Buren,  later  President  of  the  United  States, 
spent  some  time  at  the  "Factory."  The  friends  who  had 
supported  him  in  politics  and  those  with  whom  he  had 
been  associated  while  serving  the  public  were  always 
near  to  him,  especially  W.  H.  Crawford,  John  Randolph, 
and  Nathaniel  Macon.  His  connections  by  marriage 
and  in  business  also  opened  out  opportunities  of  social 
and  kindly  intercourse.  His  library,  kept  in  an  upper 
room  of  the  factory  (DuBose),  where  he  collected  and 
devoured  useful  books  and  newspapers,  political  and 
agricultural,  served  as  his  ^povxta'nfjptov,  his  thinking  shop, 
when  he  had  time  to  withdraw  from  outside  mat- 
ters. From  this  retired  spot  as  well  as  from  his  own 
domicile,  one  must  suppose  many  of  his  lengthy  com- 
munications to  the  public  were  sent  forth.  He  was  a 
prolific  writer,  and  his  communications,  which  often  cost 
him  much  labor,  must  be  attributed  to  the  same  cause 

212 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

which  made  him  enjoy  the  liveliness  and  hilarity  of  a 
banquet,  wedding  or  frolic — his  social  temperament. 
He  read  what  his  fellow  citizens  had  to  say  and,  having 
profited  more  or  less,  he  was  prompted  to  reciprocate 
the  favor. 

Little  can  be  said  about  the  names  of  his  overseers. 
One  of  the  candidates  for  the  episcopal  office  on  the  farm 
was  a  young  Irishman  named  John  Ross.  His  ad- 
vances not  being  received  as  cordially  as  expected,  on 
account  of  the  neck  of  a  bottle  protruding  from  his 
pocket,  "Be  jabers,"  he  exclaimed,  when  he  realized 
what  was  objectionable,  "here  she  goes,"  and  smashed 
the  bottle.  He  was  sent  to  Bunker  Hill  and  given  a 
trial.  He  continued  in  the  office  through  the  re- 
mainder of  the  lives  of  both  father  and  son,  until  the 
great  revolution  in  plantation  methods  and  economics 
came  (1865).  The  faithful  overseer's  health  having 
become  impaired,  he  was  furloughed  two  months  in 
1848  and,  mounted  on  one  of  the  General's  fine  horses, 
he  rode  away  to  the  famous  Sulphur  Springs  of  Virginia, 
and  returned  in  robust  condition.  His  salary  was  about 
$350  a  year  with  board  and  a  horse  furnished.  The 
position  was  so  confirmed  in  the  confidence  of  em- 
ployer and  employee  that  Ross  had  to  his  credit  in  1865 
with  the  Williams'  estate  $15,000.     (DuBose.) 

The  slaves  inherited,  less  than  one  hundred  in  num- 
ber, grew  perhaps  fivefold  in  his  lifetime  by  natural 
increase  or  purchase.  Deducting  those  he  had  given 
his  son  and  Mrs.  Williams,  two  hundred  and  forty-five 
remained  in  his  possession. 

It  required  no  little  forethought  and  industry  to  pro- 
vide for  the  large  household,  seventy  horses  and  mules, 
six  hundred  to  a  thousand  hogs,  two  hundred  cattle, 

213 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

fifty  sheep,  and  to  be  continually  increasing  the  estate 
in  value,  in  spite  of  panics  which  swept  away  the 
property  of  his  friends,  and  the  price  of  cotton  which 
fluctuated  from  twenty-eight  to  nine  cents.  In  the 
first  place  and  foremost  in  importance,  he  planned  to 
get  full  sustenance  for  everything  from  his  own  fields. 
His  plantations,  with  his  hands  and  stock,  formed  a 
tiny  empire,  in  which  corn,  corn,  corn  and  more  corn, 
was  the  foundation  of  plenty  and  prosperity.  "Feed- 
ing" was  the  word  which  stood  out  before  him  day  and 
night.  "What  shall  I  eat,  what  shall  I  drink,  and 
wherewithal  shall  I  be  clothed?"  was  so  expanded  that 
it  embraced  his  family,  his  hands  and  all  the  animals  on 
the  place.  How  to  feed  them  properly  and  profitably 
was  the  primal  problem.  Out  of  this  necessity  came 
the  exhibition  of  his  ingenuity.  First  the  introduction 
of  the  mule  or  half-ass,  as  the  Greeks  called  it,  with  its 
patient  temperament  and  constitution  which  fitted  it 
to  resist  hard  treatment  and  gave  it  immunity  to  many 
equine  diseases.  Next  came  the  embankments,  miles  in 
length,  to  protect  his  growing  crops  from  the  swollen 
Pee  Dee.  This  was  finished  (almost  certainly)  before 
the  crop  of  1809  was  planted,  and  made  the  large  acrea- 
age  in  cotton,  corn,  peas  and  pumpkins  become  a 
veritable  cornucopia,  a  horn  of  plenty.  In  1808  he 
began  a  system  of  feeding  the  thinner  land  which  in 
less  than  two  decades  made  it  equal  to  any  on  the 
plantation.  The  factory  was  intended  to  diminish  the 
cost  of  clothing  his  extensive  establishment  and  to  earn 
a  second  profit  on  the  finished  products.  The  last 
development  which  grew  out  of  his  farming  interests 
was  seen  in  his  last  year's  oil  mill,  by  which  his  cotton 
seed  was  to  furnish  light,  machine  oil,  paint,  cow  food 

214 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

and  fertilizer  for  himself  and  others.  Sixty  bushels  of 
corn  at  least  had  to  be  provided  weekly  for  human 
consumption,  the  shelling  of  which,  before  a  machine 
was  invented,  used  up  one  night  periodically  till  bed- 
time, in  the  tedious  process;  and  a  superannuated 
negro  man  was  generally  detailed  to  carry  back  and 
forth  the  grain  and  meal  with  an  ox-team.  For  his 
seventy  horses  corn  was  his  mainstay;  but  the  cereal 
was  used  with  studied  economy,  supplemented  by 
native  grasses,  fields  of  rye  and  oats,  and  by  stacks  of 
nutritious  peavine  hay.  Perhaps  his  greatest  expendi- 
ture of  corn  was  in  the  feeding  of  his  swine.  We  are 
left  in  ignorance  of  how  he  lessened  the  pressure  on  his 
corn  crib  in  winter,  but  the  oats  and  pea  fields  with 
acorns  in  the  fall  prepared  his  shotes  in  a  measure  for 
the  thousands  of  bushels  of  corn  to  be  poured  into  the 
fattening  pen.  The  curtain  was  lifted  twice  from  his 
corn  cribs  and  smokehouses,  and  the  sight  vouchsafed 
indicated  a  crop  of  corn  above  ten  thousand  bushels  and 
the  amplest  provision  in  the  meat  line.  Five  hundred 
hogs  were  fattened  and  slaughtered  in  1828,  and  in 
February,  1831,  there  were  495  on  the  plantations,  with 
twenty-seven  thousand  pounds  of  bacon  in  the  smoke- 
house. About  seven  hundred  pounds  of  bacon  went 
out  of  his  smokehouse  every  week,  or  over  thirty-five 
thousand  pounds  per  year.  And  yet  there  was  no 
scarcity  in  his  day.  Besides  meal  and  bacon,  there 
were  also  peas,  pumpkins,  sweet  potatoes  and  fresh  beef 
to  supplement,  or  to  be  a  substitute  for  the  usual  ra- 
tions. 

The  lowlands  protected  against  the  freshets  averaged 
thirty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  (Mills)  and  some  of  the 
best   acres   more   than    doubled   that   amount.     The 

215 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

greatest  number  of  bushels  from  a  measured  acre  was 
seventy-five,  while  his  thinner  land  produced  more  or 
less  than  ten  bushels  to  the  acre.  Hon.  William  Elliott 
preached  and  practised  a  different  doctrine.  Except  in 
the  inner  parts  of  the  state  where  freight  rates  were 
high,  he  thought  it  paid  to  buy  some  corn  and  provisions 
in  order  to  make  more  rice  or  cotton,  a  practice  still  not 
uncommon;  but  General  Williams  strengthened  as  he 
grew  older,  in  his  resolution,  that  the  Goddess  of 
Plenty  should  have  her  temple  and  the  homage  due  her 
in  his  little  kingdom.  Let  it  be  emphasized  that  he 
never  became  so  devoted  to  cotton  that  he  depended  on 
others  to  raise  supplies  for  his  forces,  not  even  when  he 
was  getting  over  eighty  dollars  for  his  three-hundred- 
pound  bales.  He  had  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life 
about  sixty-four  ploughs,  which,  according  to  the  usual 
allowance  of  twenty-five  acres  to  each  horse  or  mule, 
cultivated  sixteen  hundred  acres;  but  under  his  inten- 
sive method  of  preparation,  and  frequent  cultivation, 
with  a  view  to  the  improvement  of  the  land,  twelve 
hundred  acres  may  be  nearer  the  actual  acreage.  The 
proportion  in  corn  and  in  cotton  varied  somewhat  in 
answer  to  political  and  economic  conditions.  In  1828 
the  Milledgeville  Statesman  said  that  General  Wil- 
liams' entire  crop  of  the  previous  year  was  two  hundred 
bales,  and  all  of  it  was  spun  into  yarn  at  great  profit. 
This  estimate  is  below  the  traditional  number  attrib- 
uted to  his  scientific  farming;  but  the  larger  crops  of  his 
son  Nicholas  were  probably  the  cause  of  some  exaggera- 
tion as  to  the  earlier  times.  In  the  absence  of  more 
details  about  the  number  of  bales  raised  by  him  or 
turned  into  cloth  or  cordage  at  the  factory,  we  must  be 
content  with  the  knowledge  that  he  was  wise  in  plan- 

216 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

ning,  energetic  in  executing  and  successful  in  securing 
good  results.  Words  do  not  now  convey  the  same  ideas 
as  they  did  when  a  bale  was  light  (average  being  about 
three  hundred  and  ten  pounds),  the  cotton  more  difficult 
to  pick,  and  the  proportion  of  lint  smaller.  He  under- 
stood economic  laws  and  respected  them.  He  did  not 
save  at  the  spigot  and  lose  at  the  bung;  nor  was  he 
penny  wise  and  pound  foolish.  What  he  touched  he 
turned  into  gold,  because  he  touched  it  wisely.  "The 
thoughts  of  the  diligent  tend  only  to  plenteousness." 

Fortunately,  we  are  better  acquainted  with  his 
method  of  raising  cotton — related  below  in  his  own 
words.  He  demanded  a  properly  prepared  seed  bed, 
an  early  planting  that  the  season  for  producing  might 
be  as  long  as  possible,  frequent  shallow  ploughing  and 
constant  hoeing,  amounting  to  eight  or  nine  workings 
by  the  first  of  August.  He  experimented  with  cotton 
at  various  distances  and  decided  that  maturity  was 
hastened  by  leaving  plants  close  in  the  drill  and  that 
distance  was  essential  to  the  length  and  strength  of  the 
staple.  His  cotton  was  planted  in  rows,  according  to 
the  richness  of  the  soil,  from  three  to  seven  feet  apart, 
and  at  a  distance  of  four  or  five  inches  up  to  three  feet 
in  the  drills.  His  experiments  were  not  another  name 
for  guessing  by  visual  observation.  He  measured  his 
ground,  carefully  gathered  and  weighed  what  came 
from  his  trial  patches.  He  picked  twenty-three  hun- 
dred pounds  of  seed  cotton  from  his  best  acre,  which 
enjoyed  the  extreme  distance  of  seven-foot  rows  with 
stalks  three  feet  apart  in  the  drills. 

He  was  a  frequent  and  valued  contributor  to  agri- 
cultural papers  whose  files  are  now  defective.  Nothing 
has  been  found  from  him  on  corn  growing,  inconceiv- 

217 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

able  as  it  is  that  he  was  silent  on  so  important  a  crop. 
The  American  Farmer  of  Baltimore  entered  his  home  in 
the  second  decade,  with  its  thought  provoking  treat- 
ment of  live  agricultural  subjects.  After  having  prof- 
ited by  the  experience  of  other  writers,  he  decided  in 
1825  to  lay  before  the  readers  of  the  Farmer,  under  an 
assumed  name,  his  method  of  raising  cotton.  It  is  an 
interesting  bird's  eye  view  of  how  a  successful  farmer, 
within  thirty  years  after  the  invention  of  the  cotton 
gin,  was  struggling  like  an  athlete  with  his  own  indi- 
vidual problems  and  sharing  with  his  fellows  whatever 
skill  he  had  acquired.  It  may  be  called  a  lecture, 
didactic  in  tone: 

"The  cotton  plant,  while  in  the  seed  leaf,  is  very 
tender,  perhaps  as  much  so,  as  any,  of  the  most  tender, 
of  our  garden  vegetables;  when  it  has  arrived  to  what 
we  call  the  cotton  leaf,  it  is  probably  more  hardy  than 
any  of  them.  The  product  of  an  acre  of  rich  land  is 
increased,  in  my  opinion,  more  by  the  length  of  time  it 
is  allowed  to  grow,  than  from  any  other  single  circum- 
stance; hence  it  is  advisable  to  plant  as  early  as  the 
absence  of  frost  will  admit;  and  being  in  its  early  stage 
very  tender,  too  much  care  and  labor,  in  preparing  the 
ground  for  the  seed,  can  hardly  be  given.  My  method 
is  to  plant  in  drills,  on  beds  made  with  the  plough  and 
horse  rake  or  harrow,  according  to  the  nature  and  cir- 
cumstances of  the  soil.  Land  that  will  produce  ten 
bushels  of  corn  to  the  acre,  can  yield  500  pounds  of 
seed  cotton.  The  drills  on  such  land  I  make  three  feet 
apart;  and  thin  out  the  cotton,  to  the  width  of  the  hand 
between  the  stalks.  If  the  drills  were  nearer,  the  prod- 
uct might  be  somewhat  greater,  but  the  use  of  the 
plough  would  be  more  difficult.     From  land  that  has 

218 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

yielded  me  seventy-five  bushels  of  corn  per  acre,  I  have 
weighed  twenty-three  hundreds  of  seed  cotton.  This 
was  planted  at  seven  feet  distance  between  the  drills 
and  thinned  out  to  three  feet  between  the  stalks;  these 
extremes  embrace  the  entire  distances  of  which  I  have 
any  experience  and  by  which  I  am  governed.  When  I 
have  land  sufficient  for  these  changes,  my  course  of 
crops  is  cotton,  corn  and  small  grain.  My  first  process 
is  to  run  furrows  as  deep  with  No.  1J  plough,  as  two 
mules  can  draw  it,  at  a  distance  from  each  other  that 
I  mean  to  have  my  cotton  rows.  Into  these  furrows  I 
draw,  with  the  weeding  hoe  (we  call  it  fisting),  all  the 
stubble  and  vegetable  matter  between  the  rows;  hav- 
ing sprinkled  plaister  on  it,  I  break  up  the  balks,  inter- 
vals between  the  rows,  as  deep  as  possible,  with  de- 
scription of  plough.  When  this  is  done  on  old  land,  or 
land  pretty  clear  of  stumps,  I  prepare  and  finish  these 
beds,  thus  thrown  together  with  the  plough,  generally 
with  the  horse  rake,  by  running  them  on  the  beds  back- 
ward and  forward,  until  the  surface  be  pulverized 
sufficiently  to  receive  the  seed.  When  in  new  ground, 
abounding  in  stumps,  the  clods  are  broken  and  the 
surface  prepared,  with  the  weeding  hoe.  If  the  land 
should  be  very  stiff  and  cloddy,  I  prepare  the  beds  with 
harrows  instead  of  horse  rakes.  My  harrows  are  made 
in  two  parts,  attached  together  by  hooks  and  hinges 
and  when  put  together  form  an  angle  less  than  a  right 
angle  triangle;  when  at  work,  the  joints  and  hinges, 
being  over  the  middle  of  the  beds,  admit  the  teeth  to 
touch  and  work  the  whole  surface,  sides  as  well  as  the 
tops  of  the  beds  at  once.  When  the  beds  are  too  dry 
and  hard,  I  find  it  advantageous  to  secure  on  each  leaf 
of  the  harrow,  a  block  of  wood,  more  or  less  heavy, 

219 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

according  to  the  nature  and  state  of  the  ground;  these 
are  easily  worked  by  two  mules.  My  horse  rakes  are 
made  of  a  piece  of  lumber  two  feet  and  a  half  long, 
five  inches  thick  and  twelve  inches  wide,  worked  off  at 
the  two  ends,  and  hollowed  out  in  the  middle  so  as  to  be 
in  a  semicircular  form,  five  inches  by  six  inches  when 
finished;  into  the  hollow  edge  two  rows  of  iron  teeth, 
half  an  inch  thick,  three  quarters  wide,  to  show  five 
inches,  are  inserted;  the  front  row  placed  opposite  the 
intervals  of  the  back  row;  the  rows  three  inches  apart 
and  the  teeth  four  inches  in  the  row  from  each  other; 
on  the  top  of  the  semicircular  piece,  fasten  two  pieces  of 
oak  four  feet  long  three  by  two  inches  in  size,  resem- 
bling somewhat  the  hind  hounds  of  a  wagon,  with  a  nose 
iron,  where  the  two  forward  ends  are  joined  together, 
for  the  swingle  tree,  above  these  attach  two  handles, 
like  a  common  plough.  This  horse  rake  I  have  found 
very  advantageous,  not  only  in  preparing  the  beds  for 
the  seeds,  but  also  in  covering  them  when  dropped  in 
the  drills.  When  the  ground  is  in  proper  order  for 
work,  they  finish  the  beds  in  a  beautiful  and  most 
regular  manner.  The  seed  may  be  covered  with  them 
better  than  in  any  other  way;  and  as  they  expedite  the 
work  very  much,  it  rarely  happens  that  I  may  not  wait 
for  the  ground  to  be  in  the  best  possible  state  for  cover- 
ing. A  man  and  a  mule  may  prepare  with  it  from  six 
to  ten  acres  a  day,  and  can  cover  as  much,  according  to 
the  state  of  the  ground  and  width  of  the  rows.  The 
beds  being  thus  made  and  the  season  for  planting  at 
hand,  I  proceed  to  open  the  drills;  this  I  do  with  a  drill 
plough.  It  is  made  by  fastening  to  the  bottom  of  a 
piece  of  two  inch  plank,  ten  inches  wide,  two  feet  and 
a  half  long,  square  at  the  hind  end  and  pointed  at  the 

220 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

front  one,  a  piece  of  oak,  by  way  of  keel,  of  the  same 
length,  one  inch  thick  at  the  bottom  edge  and  three  at 
the  upper.  The  bottom  edge  is  armed  with  an  iron 
plate,  one  half  an  inch  thick,  so  pointed  and  squared  at 
the  front  end,  as  to  enter  the  socket  of  a  coulter  of  the 
common  form,  the  upper  edge  of  which  is  wedged 
securely  in  the  beam,  the  upper  fixtures  are  like  those 
of  a  plough  secured  to  a  plank  by  a  helve;  the  keel 
ought  not  to  be  more  than  two  inches  deep.  This 
plough  is  very  light  and  is  worked  by  one  mule,  walking 
on  top  the  beds  and  can  open  as  many  drills  in  a  day  as 
a  horse  rake  can  cover.  For  several  years  past  I  have 
omitted  to  cover  the  seed  at  the  time  of  dropping  it. 
In  stiff  land,  the  advantage  results  from  lessening  the 
chances  of  the  soil  being  "caked"  over  it  by  hard  rains, 
through  which  the  cotton  cannot  penetrate,  and  which 
must  be  raked  some  way  or  be  replanted.  In  light 
soils,  the  rain  which  falls  after  the  seed  is  dropped  will 
cover  them  sufficiently,  but  if  this  does  not  happen,  by 
having  a  proper  number  of  horse  rakes,  each  being 
capable  of  covering  ten  acres  in  the  day,  the  whole  crop 
may  be  covered  in  two  days,  and  of  course  commenced 
at  the  very  moment  when  the  ground  is  in  the  best 
possible  state  for  the  operation.  By  this  mode  of 
covering,  the  whole  surface  of  the  bed  is  stirred  and 
dressed  nicely,  later  after  the  seed  is  dropped,  and  in  a 
more  expeditious  manner  than  any  other  I  have  ever 
tried. 

"Having  planted  my  cotton,  which  I  ought  perhaps 
to  have  said  I  invariably  begin  on  the  last  of  March  or 
the  first  day  of  April,  I  begin  the  culture  of  it  as  soon  as 
the  progress  of  other  business  will  admit,  whether  it 
has  got  up  or  not.     The  first  operation  is  to  hoe  it. 

221 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

This  is  done  the  first  time  by  shaving  down  the  beds,  as 
near  to  the  plants  and  as  light  as  possible;  if  there  be 
weeds  or  grass  too  near  the  plant  to  be  removed  by  the 
hoe,  they  must  be  picked  out  with  the  fingers;  this  is 
indispensable,  to  save  time  and  labor  afterwards.  Im- 
mediately after  the  cotton  is  hoed,  that  is,  a  sufficient 
quantity  to  admit  the  ploughs ;  not  waiting  to  complete 
the  first  hoeing,  I  commence  the  first  ploughing;  this 
is  done  by  running  one  furrow  as  close  to  the  cotton 
and  as  shallow  as  possible,  of  each  side  of  the  rows, 
throwing  the  furrow  slice  from  the  cotton.  All  the 
corn  I  have  not  hoed  previous  to  the  hoeing  of  the  cot- 
ton (I  prefer  there  should  be  none)  I  now  hoe;  and 
then  commence  the  second  hoeing  of  cotton.  This  done 
by  chopping  through  the  rows  of  cotton,  either  with  the 
corner  of  the  hoe  or  to  its  full  width,  if  the  soil  be  rich, 
leaving  the  cotton  in  bunches  of  four  stalks  between 
the  chops,  with  fine  soil  drawn  up  to  the  sides  of  the 
beds.  Now  follow  the  second  ploughing:  reverse  the 
furrow  slice  of  the  first  plowing,  by  throwing  it  towards 
the  cotton,  by  one  furrow  on  each  side  of  the  rows,  the 
mould  board  next  to  the  cotton  of  course;  the  middles 
are  then  to  be  flushed  up,  either  with  shovel,  skimmer, 
or  double  iron  mould  board  ploughs,  according  to  the 
state  of  the  weather;  if  it  be  dry,  I  prefer  the  two  first, 
if  wet  the  last  is  best.  Thus  I  proceed  alternately 
hoeing,  always  drawing  up  the  soil  after  the  first  hoe- 
ing and  ploughing;  always  with  the  mould  board  to  the 
cotton  after  the  first  ploughing,  until  the  limbs  have 
grown  so  much  as  to  prevent  both  hoe  and  plough  from 
passing  between  them,  without  breaking  them  off.  This 
happens  generally  by  the  first  of  August,  by  which  time 
I  have  generally  hoed  the  cotton  eight  or  nine  times.    I 

222 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

find  it  necessary  to  hoe  such  a  portion  of  the  corn,  at 
the  end  of  each  hoeing  of  the  cotton,  as  will  give  to  it  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  work  to  keep  it  clean.  I  also 
endeavor  to  have  each  series  of  ploughing  begin  at  a 
little  distance  farther  from  both  cotton  and  corn  than 
that  which  preceded  it;  thus  cutting  the  principal  roots 
of  both,  at  each  ploughing,  farther  from  the  stalk  than 
it  was  cut  before.  By  this  process,  I  believe  the  small 
fibers  are  increased,  and  additional  mouths  opened, 
through  which  the  plants  draw  their  nourishment. 

"I  conclude  from  examination  of  the  roots,  that  they 
grow  into  small  knots  when  cut,  and  issue  from  there, 
and  from  between  these  and  the  stalks,  small  fibres, 
other  than  would  issue,  if  they  were  not  cut,  of  course 
they  ought  not  to  be  cut  back,  or  a  second  time  nearer 
to  the  stalk  than  they  were  previously.  The  last 
operation  in  the  cultivation  of  cotton  with  the  plough, 
should  be  to  run  a  furrow  with  a  bull  tongue  or  with  a 
coulter  plough  in  the  middle  between  the  rows  and  as 
deep  as  may  be;  these  ploughs  being  very  narrow,  may 
be  passed  between  the  rows,  without  injury,  later  than 
any  other.  Except  this  furrow  I  endeavor  to  cultivate 
as  shallow  as  possible.  Cotton  should  be  thinned  after 
the  first  hoeing.  At  the  second  hoeing  I  chop  through 
the  drills,  leaving  it  in  bunches;  at  the  third  hoeing,  I 
reduce  these  bunches  to  two  or  even  one  stalk,  if  the 
plant  be  forward  or  the  hoeing  backward  and  the 
weather  favorable,  afterwards  the  thinning  should  be 
continued  so  as  to  prevent  its  being  crowded;  accord- 
ing to  the  richness  of  the  soil,  I  leave  it  more  or  less 
distant  in  the  drills;  of  this  each  planter  must  neces- 
sarily judge  and  concerning  which  many  differ.  In  my 
opinion,  the  aggregate  product  of  a  field  of  cotton  is 

223 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

very  little  affected  in  quantity  by  thinning,  particularly 
if  it  be  rich  soil;  but  the  quality  of  the  staple,  which 
is  of  as  much  importance  as  the  quantity  certainly 
is  very  materially.  My  experiments  on  this  part 
of  the  business,  have  satisfied  me  this  opinion  is 
correct. 

"As  early  as  the  first  of  August,  I  top  the  cotton. 
This  is  done  by  pinching  off  the  bud.  I  some  times 
extend  this  to  the  limbs  also;  when  the  plant  is  large 
and  flourishing,  and  the  pods  backward,  I  think  it  may 
be  done  with  advantage.  If  the  seasons  be  moist,  the 
plant  luxuriant  in  growth,  appearing  full  of  sap,  sucker- 
ing  is  very  proper;  but  if  these  indications  have  sub- 
sided, by  the  plant  appearing  more  woody  and  the 
leaves  have  become  small  or  are  decreasing  fast,  sucker- 
ing  is  unnecessary  or  may  be  omitted  without  much 
loss.  I  do  not  doubt  that  topping  and  suckering  tend 
to  increase  the  quantity  some  and  quality  much  and 
therefore  should  be  done  as  extensively  as  circumstances 
will  admit;  the  last,  however,  is  so  tedious  and  our 
crops  are  now  so  large,  but  a  small  portion  of  them 
can  be  thus  treated. 

"When  I  have  open  land  sufficient,  I  have  found  it 
advantageous  to  follow  the  cotton  crop  with  one  of 
corn  and  this  last  with  small  grain,  taking  care  to 
plough  the  corn,  the  two  or  three  last  times  the  way  I 
mean  to  have  my  cotton  rows  when  the  field  is  next 
planted  with  cotton,  thus  avoiding  the  tedious  opera- 
tion of  laying  off  the  rows.  Corn  grows  kindly  after 
cotton,  and  with  less  labor.  Cotton  succeeds  to  small 
grain  advantageously  because  of  the  quantity  of  vege- 
table matter  left  for  listing  into  the  deep  furrows  in- 
tended to  be  the  base  of  the  cotton  beds,  and  which 

224 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

with  the  use  of  plaister,  amply  repays  both  the  labor 
and  the  cost. 

"I  will  add  a  little  on  the  subject  of  manure.  We 
frequently  hear  much  surprise  expressed  at  the  quan- 
tity of  manure  that  is  used  by  particular  individuals; 
indeed  there  are  but  a  very  few,  if  any  planters,  who 
have  not  at  some  time  or  other,  complained  of  the 
scarcity  and  difficulty  of  procuring  it.  Later  expe- 
rience and  more  attention  induce  me  to  say,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  southern  country  more  abundant;  at 
least  the  materials  with  which  to  make  it;  nor  can  we 
ever  be  in  want  of  them,  until  black-jack  leaves  and 
pine  straw  become  scarce.  In  truth  every  man  who 
shall  use  the  means  within  his  power,  will  find  the 
supply  limited  by  his  ability  to  collect  and  apply  it. 
Generally  when  we  have  carried  into  the  field  the 
droppings  of  our  cattle  on  our  cowpens,  and  of  our 
horses  in  the  stable,  we  laud  ourselves  for  the  improve- 
ment we  have  made  in  good  husbandry;  and  in  fact, 
this  is  gaining  much,  for  since  my  recollection,  neither 
was  thought  of — the  first  having  served  only  to  make  a 
turnip  patch  and  the  last  remained  a  constant  annoy- 
ance throughout  the  year.  Now  from  these  alone  we 
may  elaborate  as  much  good  manure  as  we  can  haul 
into  the  fields  in  season  for  planting.  In  making  this 
kind  of  manure,  it  is  only  necessary  to  be  willing  to 
collect  from  the  woods,  leaves  of  any  kind,  pine  straw 
as  good  as  the  best,  and  place  them  in  our  cowpens  and 
stables,  to  find  the  quantity  of  excellent  manure  in- 
creasing beyond  our  expectation.  If  top  soil  of  any 
kind  be  scattered  among  them,  so  much  the  better. 
This  may  be  had  from  the  corners  of  fences,  sides  of  the 
roads,  ponds  occasionally  dry,  and  such  parts  of  the 

225 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

plantation  as  from  situation  will  never  be  cultivated. 
There  are  but  a  very  few  planters,  to  whom  any  one  of 
these  sources  of  supply  would  not  be  abundant;  no  one 
can  exhaust  all  of  them,  convenient  to  him.  I  might 
add  weeds :  can  any  one  apprehend  a  scarcity  of  these? 
And  pond  grass;  which  last  winter,  with  plaister,  I 
have  found  admirable  for  sweet  potatoes,  in  very  poor 
land.  Should  care  be  taken  to  carry  out  into  fields  of 
light  sandy  soil,  that  which  has  been  collected  where 
clay  abounded,  and  vice  versa,  so  much  the  better; 
with  or  without  such  care,  he  who  will  try  it,  will  find 
his  time  and  labor  repaid  with  usurious  interest.  It  is 
not  for  planters  to  complain  for  the  want  of  manure, 
until  they  have  proved  how  excellent  are  even  the 
carcasses  of  their  dead  beasts,  the  very  bones  of  which 
are  valuable.  Instead  of  letting  them  rot  on  the  sur- 
face, alike  disgraceful  to  our  care  and  dangerous  to  our 
health,  if  we  will  not  make  the  best  use  of  them  by 
compounding  them  with  six  times  their  bulk  of  top 
soil — at  least  bury  them  in  the  field,  where  they  will 
distinguish  the  place  by  superior  fertility  for  many 
years. 

"If  any  man  living  in  a  poor  sandy  soil,  will  fill  a 
single  furrow  across  one  of  the  plats  in  his  garden,  with 
black-jack  leaves,  taken  from  the  woods,  even  in  a 
windy  day  in  March,  bed  on  them,  and  plant  a  row  of 
peas,  he  will  require  no  further  encouragement  to  make 
a  longer  experiment;  fortunately  every  additional  act 
to  increase  their-  fertility,  by  littering  with  them  or  by 
mixing  them  with  dung,  will  be  rewarded  with  addi- 
tional returns.  By  a  process  analagous  to  the  above,  I 
make  every  year,  an  excellent  compost,  by  substituting 
cotton  seed,  for  animal  dung.      Beds,  rather  mounds, 

226 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

with  alternate  layers  of  cotton  seed,  top  soil  and  leaves  of 
every  kind,  or  pine  straw  (are  made)  in  the  fields,  imme- 
diately while  the  ginning  of  the  cotton  is  going  on,  in  such 
number  and  places  as  the  size  of  the  field  may  require;  the 
whole  covered  up  with  the  soil  nearest  to  the  mound,  and 
patted  close  with  the  spade;  I  have  found,  on  opening 
them  in  the  spring,  to  be  used  for  cotton  or  corn,  rich 
manure.  This  mode  of  using  the  cotton  seed,  is  eco- 
nomical labor;  advantageous,  by  distributing  it  through- 
out the  field  to  be  manured,  at  a  period  most  suitable 
and  convenient;  and  very  abundant  in  quantity.  I 
think  one  wagon  load  of  cotton  seed  thus  disposed  of 
is  as  valuable  as  ten  in  the  usual  way.  The  entire 
evaporation  of  the  oily  and  the  other  matter  of  the  seed 
is  prevented  from  escaping  during  the  process  of  fer- 
mentation, and  arrested  and  retained  by  the  top  soil 
and  leaves.  I  have  used  each  of  the  component  parts 
of  the  compost  separately,  and  so  completely  was  the 
fertilizing  quality  distributed  I  could  discover  no  dif- 
ference in  their  effects.  While  the  mounds  are  kept 
well  covered,  and  properly  patted  with  the  spade,  so  en- 
tirely is  the  evaporation  prevented,  there  is  no  smell 
perceived  near  them;  every  cotton  planter  knows  how 
offensive  large  bulk  of  rotting  cotton  seed  becomes, 
exposed  to  sun  and  rain.  Additional  supplies  of  manure 
are  to  be  had  from  feeding  our  cattle  in  pens.  Colonel 
Taylor  (of  Virginia)  has  shown. in  his  Arator,  how  much 
may  be  done  in  this  way  with  dry  corn  stalks  alone. 
I  have  derived  as  much  benefit  from  keeping  my  cattle 
out  of  my  fields,  by  his  system  of  feeding  them  in  pens 
as  from  the  large  quantity  of  manure  made  in  them. 
But  these  processes  require  labor  to  collect  the  material 
and  labor  to  distribute  the  manure,  and  that  which  is 

227 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

more  difficult  to  regulate,  time  also.  When  I  have 
done  all  that  my  labor  and  time  will  admit  of  in  these 
ways,  I  complete  the  course  of  manuring.  I  sow  such 
parts  of  my  lands,  each  year,  in  oats  that  I  have  not 
been  able  to  manure  otherwise.  From  these  I  collect 
only  seed  enough  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  plough  in 
the  rest,  having  first  plaistered  it.  The  seed  is  gathered 
by  stripping  it  with  the  hand,  from  the  stems,  standing 
in  the  fields.  I  think  this  is  the  easiest  and  most  ex- 
peditious method  of  saving  oats  seed,  I  have  seen 
tried.  The  oats  straw  is  best  turned  under  by  attach- 
ing a  skim-coulter,  or  iron  bolt,  to  the  beam  of  the 
plough,  with  the  outer  end  turned  down;  this  should 
project  from  the  beam  horizontally  a  little  forward  of 
and  beyond  the  mould  board.  Oats  sown  for  manure, 
or  indeed  for  any  other  purpose,  need  no  other  labor 
than  simply  sowing;  this  being  done  in  the  cotton  field 
immediately  before  the  hands  begin  to  pick  cotton;  or 
in  the  corn  field  before  it  is  gathered,  will  come  up  very 
well.  It  is  only  necessary  to  sow  them  before  either 
operation  is  commenced  to  have  them  rise  well.  .  .  . 
For  the  encouragement  of  those  who  are  willing  to  make 
some  additional  efforts,  allow  me  to  add,  by  means  of 
the  above  hinted  at,  I  have  converted  considerable 
portions  of  my  fields,  which  were  literally  exhausted, 
into  as  productive  soil  as  any  I  now  cultivate — and  this 
has  been  accomplished  since  1808,  by  D.  R.  Williams." 
6-20-1825. 

His  method  of  curing  hay  was  given  in  1828: 
"When  the  first  peas  are  nearly  grown,  or  when  the 
vine  is  in  its  highest  verdure,  set  up  your  stack  poles, 
made  of  any  description  of  small  trees,  which  has  numer- 
ous branches.     Cut  these  off  three  feet  from  the  body. 

228 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Cut  or  pull  the  peas  and  immediately  stack  them,  in 
the  ordinary  mode,  only  do  not  endeavor,  as  in  stacking 
dry  forage,  to  press  as  much  as  possible  into  a  stack — 
the  branches  which  project  three  feet  from  the  body  of 
the  stack  pole,  admit  air  enough  to  prevent  the  vines 
from  moulding.  When  cured,  remove  them  to  a  house, 
or  restack.  The  advantage  will  be  found  in  the  quality 
of  the  hay,  and  preservation  of  the  leaves.  More  long 
forage  may  be  made  to  the  acre,  in  this  mode,  than  from 
the  same  quantity  of  land  in  any  other,  and  paradoxical 
as  it  may  at  first  seem,  the  hay  will  cure  better  than 
when  exposed  to  the  sun.  Better  fodder  was  never 
offered  to  a  mule  or  ox  or  milch  cow." 

Editor  T.  D.  Legare  of  the  Southern  Agriculturist 
made  extended  criticisms  on  the  method.  He  pro- 
nounced it  wasteful  to  turn  horses  and  mules  into  ripe 
grain  and  condemned  his  mode  of  gathering  oat  seed. 
The  first  of  April  was  too  early  to  plant  and  the  prac- 
tice of  not  covering  the  seed  and  of  cutting  roots  was 
all  wrong.  The  rotation  of  cotton,  corn  and  grain  was 
especially  displeasing  to  the  editor  to  whose  criticism 
we  are  indebted  for  a  fuller  exposition  of  General 
Williams'  methods: 

"The  system  I  pursued  up  to  1825  is  the  same.  I 
still  follow  the  'enclosing  system,'  as  it  is  sometimes 
designated,  and  with  which  'further  experiment  has 
satisfied  me  yet  more.'  I  allow  no  foot  to  tread  the 
fields  appropriated  for  cultivation,  that  from  the  nature 
of  the  soil  is  susceptible  to  injury  from  treading,  except 
those  employed  to  work  them  and  again  add,  'I  have 
derived  as  much  benefit  from  keeping  my  cattle  out  of 
my  fields  ...  as  from  the  large  quantities  of 
manure  made  in  the  pens.' 

229 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

"You  have  mistaken  an  incident  of  that  system  for 
the  system  itself;  that  incident  is  the  use  to  which  I  ap- 
ply '  certain  portions  of  lands  to  be  sowed  either  with  rye 
or  oats  in  the  fall  and  to  be  fed  down  after  the  grain  is 
ripe.'  These  portions  of  land  are  additional  to  those 
used  for  the  crop.  I  consider  that  I  was  answering 
your  wishes  by  stating  my  practice  simply,  without  en- 
larging on  supposed  advantages,  or  attempting  to  dis- 
cuss the  various  opinions  that  had  or  might  arise  con- 
cerning them,  presuming  that  if  any  good  was  to  result, 
it  would  be  from  inducing  others  to  test  them.  Con- 
cerning this  particular  incident  which  I  recommended 
for  trial,  by  all  who  have  open  land  enough  for  the 
proof,  permit  me  to  add,  to  every  planter  whose  system 
of  cultivation  is  compounded  of  plough  and  hoe  a  pas- 
ture of  some  kind  or  other  is  indispensable.  How  is 
this  position  to  be  made  most  advantageously?  That 
which  has  proved  most  beneficial,  as  well  as  economical 
to  us,  is  that  which  I  have  suggested ;  but  it  was  recom- 
mended as  a  pasture,  not  as  a  system  for  fertilizing  old 
worn  out  lands,  and  in  exclusion  of  that  system  which  I 
have  long  followed  and  still  approve.  If  to  have  your 
butter  of  the  color  of  gold  in  winter  and  enough  of  it 
too,  instead  of  that  which  is  always  of  a  pale  whitish 
hue,  when  the  cows  are  fed  wholly  with  dry  food;  if 
an  abundance  of  milk  be  desirable;  if  fat  calves  are 
wanted,  instead  of  the  poor,  lean,  long-haired  little 
creatures,  that  have  been  *  knocked  in  the  head  with  the 
churn  stick';  if  rich  grazing  in  the  depth  of  winter  be 
sought,  for  colts  and  brood  mares,  you  have  only  to 
sow  with  rye  or  oats  a  sufficient  quantity  of  land  in  the 
fall,  the  earlier  the  better,  to  obtain  these;  until  the 
first  of  March  or  even  the  middle,  when  the  soil  is  rich, 

230 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

at  which  time,  the  uses  here  suggested,  will  have  paid 
you  many  times  told,  for  the  expense  of  producing 
them. 

"When  the  grain  shall  have  become  ripe,  your  work 
horses  and  mules  will  fatten  by  giving  them  access  to 
it,  without  any  other  food  than  that  which  is  always 
given  at  noon.  When  the  grain  has  thus  been  appar- 
ently consumed,  your  hogs,  turned  in,  will  increase  and 
multiply  and  fatten  to  tenfold  the  value  of  the  seed 
and  labor  you  have  expended ;  and  what  is  not  less  sat- 
isfactory, these  portions  of  land  thus  treated  will  after 
three  years  produce  more  than  they  could  before  you 
derived  all  these  advantages  from  them. 

"On  the  subject  of  saving  oats  seed,  by  stripping  it 
with  the  hand  from  the  stem  in  the  field,  I  have  but 
little  to  say.  It  is  evident  from  your  comments  that  is 
too  great  a  novelty  for  your  belief.  I  have  not  said  it  is 
the  most  expeditious  mode  that  can  be  devised;  but  to 
those  who  may  be  disposed  to  try,  I  will  add,  that  with  a 
convenient  sized  basket,  suspended  from  the  shoulders, 
in  front  of  the  laborer,  he  can  thus  gather  more  oat 
seed,  in  my  opinion,  in  the  same  time,  than  he  possibly 
can  by  any  of  the  ordinary  modes  now  in  practice. 

"With  respect  to  improvement  of  the  staple  of  cotton 
by  thinning,  I  reply  that  any  species  of  small  grain  is 
accelerated  to  maturing  by  thick  sowing.  This  law  of 
nature  embraces  cotton  also.  The  grain  of  the  first  is 
small  and  diminutive;  so  also  is  the  pod  and  wool  of  the 
last.  Upland  cotton  being  used  by  the  manufacturer 
exclusively  for  the  coarser  fabrics,  I  am  not  aware  that 
any  attention  is  paid  by  the  purchaser  to  its  fineness. 
Color,  strength  and  length  of  staple  are  the  chief  cir- 
cumstances that  constitute  its  value.     These  are  in- 

231 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

duced  in  the  greatest  degree  by  giving  free  access  to  sun 
and  air,  while  the  plant  is  growing.  That  which  is  not 
thinned  at  all,  on  rich  soil,  sowed  as  thick  in  the  drill  as 
oats  or  wheat,  will  mature  first  and  has  produced  as 
often  as  I  have  made  trials  by  weighing  as  much  as  that 
which  was  thinned  in  the  ordinary  mode;  but  the  size  of 
the  pods  and  length  of  the  staple  are  so  obviously  smaller 
and  shorter  as  not  to  be  doubted  by  the  most  superficial 
observer." 

General  Williams  might  be  paralleled  and  contrasted 
with  the  farmer-statesman  of  Rome,  Marcus  Porcius 
Cato;  the  latter,  narrow  in  his  views  of  politics  and  mor- 
als, invested  his  growing  capital  in  so  many  ways  that 
he  declared  that  not  even  the  gods  could  deprive  him  of 
all  of  it;  the  former,  broad  in  his  sympathies  and  char- 
itable toward  all,  invested  everything  in  his  visible  es- 
tate and  the  appurtenances  thereof;  his  defense  was  not 
a  shrewd  preparation  against  the  worst  that  might  be- 
fall him,  but  a  conformity  to  the  laws  which  lead  to 
competency  and  independence.  Although  his  losses  at 
times  were  heavy  he  could  always,  like  the  model  wife 
in  the  last  chapter  of  Proverbs,  smile  at  the  days  to 
come.  In  1812  his  loss  by  fire  amounted  to  five 
thousand  bushels  of  corn  and  thirty-five  bales  of  cotton. 
In  1829  the  great  freshet  caused  a  greater  loss,  and  all 
through  the  years,  the  aggregate  loss  from  going  secur- 
ity for  his  hard-pressed  neighbors  is  thought  to  have 
been  the  greatest.  In  spite,  however,  of  these  serious 
backsets  and  annoyances,  he  bravely  faced  the  casual- 
ties of  life  and  met,  unsoured,  every  emergency.  Dur- 
ing the  freshet  he  walked  along  the  levees  to  see  the 
danger  points  with  his  own  eyes;  and  with  the  same 
watchfulness  he  examined  the  leaks  in  his  pocketbook. 

232 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

It  required,  for  instance,  several  mules  every  year  to  keep 
up  the  efficiency  of  his  teams,  but  he  did  not  raise  cot- 
ton to  exchange  for  animals  brought  in  from  other 
states.  He  made  provision  to  raise  them  at  home  on 
his  own  fine  grazing  lands  at  a  nominal  cost,  and  for  an 
encouragement  for  his  neighbors  to  do  likewise.  "I 
have,"  said  he  in  1830,  "young  mules  and  colts  enough 
to  hinder  me  from  buying  a  western  horse  and  mule 
for  years."  Had  he  transferred  his  corncribs  and 
smokehouses  and  colt-raising  to  other  states,  he  would 
have  forfeited  the  right  to  be  held  up  as  an  exemplar 
to  later  agriculturists.  Had  his  example  been  sedu- 
lously followed  everywhere,  South  Carolina  would  now 
be  one  of  the  wealthiest  states  in  the  Union.  In  the 
first  quarter  of  the  last  century,  bacon,  corn  and  prov- 
ender went  down  the  Pee  Dee  and  the  streams  through 
the  Santee  Canal  to  Charleston;  in  the  second,  these 
articles  came  into  Charleston  and  went  up  the  water 
courses  to  the  towns  and  plantations;  but  many  a 
farmer,  "unknown  to  fortune  and  to  fame,"  became 
independent  financially,  by  practising  the  same  princi- 
ples of  household  economy,  making  everything  needed, 
produced  by  the  seasons,  with  cotton  nearly  clear 
money.  One  would  suppose  that  General  Williams 
spent  all  his  time  in  supervising  his  varied  and  exten- 
sive interests ;  but  such  was  not  the  case.  As  he  turned 
aside  occasionally  from  the  serious  side  of  life,  to  social 
enjoyments,  so  he  sometimes  laid  aside  the  oversight  of 
things  and  took  up  an  implement  or  tool  into  his  own 
hands.  Near  the  close  of  his  life  when  voices  in 
Charleston,  Edgefield,  Camden  and  other  places  were 
calling  him  to  come  forward  and  seize  a  second  time 
the  helm  of  the  state  when  she  was  in  dangerous  waters, 

233 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

he  saw  one  of  his  gins  idle  for  want  of  cogs ;  and  because 
he  hated  to  see  it  idle  more  than  he  did  to  labor  with  his 
own  hands,  he  began  the  needed  repairs.  He  went 
home  from  his  work  "dragging  his  hind  legs  like  a  worn 
down  dray  horse,"  and  found  there  a  letter  proposing 
to  put  him  in  the  chair  of  state.  In  1814  he  was  made 
Governor  on  the  basis  of  his  reputation  by  men  who  had 
some  doubts  about  the  wisdom  of  the  choice;  in  1830 
the  call  proceeded  from  men  who  knew  him  thoroughly. 
Of  him  as  Governor,  a  portrait  hangs  suspended  in  the 
library  of  the  South  Carolina  University;  of  him  as  a 
farmer-statesman,  one  month  before  his  death,  the  pic- 
ture is  idyllic  with  its  rustic  setting.  As  paterfamilias, 
he  dons  his  overalls  and  dignifies  labor,  by  the  side  of 
his  colored  carpenters  or  paid  journeymen,  until  he  goes 
home  in  full  sympathy  with  every  toiler  in  the  state 
who  welcomes  the  hour  of  rest.  The  scene  changes, 
and  he  appears  as  a  farmer-statesman,  a  noble  Roman, 
to  whom  the  eyes  of  the  people  are  turned,  with  the 
question,  "Will  you  not  lay  hold  and  see  to  it  that  the 
Commonwealth  receives  no  detriment?" 


234 


CHAPTER  XXI 

UNABATED   INTEREST   IN   HIS   COUNTRY'S   WELFARE 

GENERAL  WILLIAMS  retired  to  his  plantation 
and  to  the  bosom  of  his  family,  at  the  close  of 
1816,  fully  satisfied  with  the  honors  bestowed 
upon  him  by  the  government  and  the  people.  He  prob- 
ably did  not  know  at  the  time  how  near  he  was  to  be- 
ing drawn  out  for  another  eight  years'  public  service. 
President  Monroe  had  invited  W.  H.  Crawford  to  be  a 
member  of  his  Cabinet  and  having  failed  to  secure  a 
Western  man  to  act  as  Secretary  of  War,  in  deference  to 
President  Madison,  he  offered  the  honor  to  William 
Lowndes.  The  latter  declined  and  left  the  President 
free  to  choose  between  two  men,  who  were  in  every  way 
qualified  for  the  office,  General  Williams  and  John  C. 
Calhoun.  In  the  previous  year  Calhoun  had  gone  to 
the  democratic  caucus  and  by  active  exertions  helped 
to  nominate  Monroe  over  Crawford.  W.  H.  Crawford 
and  John  C.  Calhoun  had  been  at  school  together  and, 
as  it  not  unfrequently  happens  with  schoolmates,  be- 
came rivals  and  irreconcilable  opponents.  Crawford 
preferred  Williams  to  Calhoun  as  a  colleague,  because 
of  their  intimate  friendship,  similarity  of  views  and  the 
General's  military  experience;  but  he  expressed  himself 
as  pleased  with  the  choice  made  by  the  President. 
At  the  time  his  official  life  was  about  to  close,  there 

235 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

was  a  vacancy  in  the  United  States  Senate  to  be  filled; 
but  General  Williams  was  not  swayed  by  the  ex- 
governor's  ambition  to  go  up  higher.  He  preferred 
private  life  and  exemplified  William  Lowndes'  golden 
rule,  not  yet  formulated,  in  neither  seeking  an  honor 
nor  rejecting  it  when  offered  by  the  people,  however 
inconvenient  it  might  be. 

The  first  year's  efforts  to  return  to  a  peace  footing 
were  less  attractive  to  the  public  than  the  discussions 
about  the  tariff,  internal  improvements  and  slavery 
which  proved  in  the  end  a  veritable  Satan,  "who  brought 
death  into  the  world  and  all  our  woe."  His  fellow- 
citizens  in  South  Carolina  were  more  devoted  to  politics 
than  the  members  of  any  denomination  were  to  religion ; 
and  among  no  people  were  there  relatively  more  tal- 
ented and  gifted  individuals.  Indeed  the  plethora  of 
great  men  in  the  state,  patriotic  and  ambitious,  each 
striving  to  survive,  gave  a  tragical  air  to  the  times. 
When  it  transpired  in  1822  that  Robert  Y.  Hayne  had 
been  elected  in  the  place  of  Senator  Smith,  a  states- 
rights  Congressman,  its  full  significance  was  compre- 
hended by  General  Williams.  The  passage  of  the  tariff 
act  in  1824,  the  election  of  Calhoun  to  the  Vice-Presi- 
dency and  the  defeat  of  Crawford,  were  potent  reasons 
for  his  entrance  into  the  State  Senate  in  1824,  to  whose 
humble  part  in  those  troubled  days,  together  with  the 
men  and  the  circumstances  which  throw  light  upon  it, 
our  story  must  be  restricted. 

Prior  to  his  election  to  the  Vice-Presidency,  Calhoun 
received  a  letter  from  a  Congressman  in  Virginia, 
Robert  S.  Garnett,  asking  for  his  opinion  of  that  part 
of  the  Constitution  which  deals  with  "the  line  which 
separates  the  powers  of  the  general  and  state  govern- 

236 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

ments. "  The  question  and  its  answer  are  significant  at 
this  juncture,  and  the  latter  shows  what  he  had  thought 
upon  the  subject  regarded  vital  by  many  who  lived  in 
his  state.  His  reply  is  found  in  his  letters,  a  part  of 
which  only  is  reproduced: 

"  If  there  is  one  portion  of  the  Constitution  which  I 
most  admire,  it  is  the  distribution  of  power  between  the 
States  and  the  General  Government.  It  is  the  only 
portion  which  is  novel  and  peculiar.  This  is  our  inven- 
tion and  I  consider  it  to  be  the  greatest  improvement 
which  has  been  made  in  the  science  of  government  after 
the  division  of  power  into  the  legislative,  executive  and 
judicial.  Without  it  free  states,  if  limited  to  a  small 
territory,  must  be  crushed  by  the  great  monarchical 
powers,  or  exist  only  at  their  discretion;  but  if  it  ex- 
tended over  a  great  surface,  the  concentration  of  power 
and  patronage  necessary  for  government  would  speedily 
end  in  terror.  It  is  only  by  this  admirable  distribution 
that  a  great  extent  of  territory,  with  a  proportional 
population  and  power,  can  be  reconciled  with  freedom, 
and  consequently  that  safety  and  respectability  be 
given  to  free  states.  As  much  then  as  I  value  freedom, 
in  the  same  degree  do  I  value  state  rights.  But  it  is 
not  only  in  the  abstract  that  I  admire  the  distribution  of 
power  between  the  general  government  and  the  states. 
I  approve  of  the  actual  distribution  of  the  two  powers, 
which  is  made  by  our  Constitution.  Were  it  in  my 
power,  I  would  make  no  change."  After  discussing 
how  the  Constitution  should  be  and  should  not  be 
interrupted,  he  continued,  "I  have  never  uttered  a 
sentence  in  any  speech,  report  or  word  in  conversation 
that  could  give  offence  to  the  most  ardent  defender  of 
state  rights.     Feeling  the  profoundest  respect  for  the 

237 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

States  and  believing  their  honor  not  to  be  greater  than 
it  ought  to  be,  I  have  at  least  never  spoken  disrespect- 
fully of  them,  or  endeavored  to  establish  principles 
that  would  weaken  them.  ...  I  have  gone  through 
a  short  but  active  political  life,  and  in  trying  times,  and 
if  hostile  to  the  rights  of  the  States,  some  evidence  must 
be  found  of  it  in  my  speeches  and  reports. "  In  refer- 
ence to  the  national  bank  and  the  system  of  internal 
improvements  he  states  the  facts  clearly  and  acknowl- 
edges that  he  was  walking  in  the  footsteps  of  Jefferson, 
Madison  and  Monroe.  In  the  seven  previous  years 
Calhoun  had  been  in  the  majority  party  and  his  busi- 
ness and  his  thinking  had  to  do  with  the  duties  of  the 
general  government,  but  a  change  had  been  going  on  in 
the  sections  that  was  about  to  isolate  him  at  home  and 
abroad.  "The  change  in  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut from  a  defiant  particularism  and  an  uncompro- 
mising free  trade  policy,  during  the  short  years  of  1815 
to  1830,  to  a  position  of  nationalism  and  emphatic 
protective  program  parallels  exactly  the  change  at  the 
same  time  in  South  Carolina  from  nationalism  and  a 
protective  tariff  to  a  strict  states-rights  and  an  unbend- 
ing free  trade  system."  (W.  E.  Dodd.)  The  change 
in  New  England  caused  the  change  in  South  Carolina 
and  Calhoun,  like  General  Lee,  with  slow  and  reluctant 
steps,  became  a  defender  of  his  state  against  aggression. 
But  Calhoun,  the  General  Lee  in  the  intellectual  period 
of  the  sectional  struggle,  was  carried  around  on  the 
circumference  of  the  political  wheel,  into  the  very  camp 
of  Crawford,  Smith,  Taylor,  Williams  and  of  their 
powerful  and  compact  party,  to  whom,  owing  to  his 
past  opposition  to  their  leader  and  his  friends,  he  was 
less  acceptable  than  Clay,  the  father  of  the  un-American 

238 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

system.  The  history  of  these  years  in  which  Calhoun 
was  the  central  figure  had  a  double  aspect,  one  in  con- 
nection with  Congress  and  the  states,  the  other  with 
the  state  government  and  the  people  of  South  Carolina. 
General  Williams,  who  figured  mostly  in  the  latter 
conflict,  found  Judge  Smith  in  the  State  Senate,  1824- 
1826,  and  supported  his  resolutions  regarding  the  right 
of  a  State  Legislature  to  "watch  over  the  proceedings 
of  Congress  and  express  their  approbation  or  disappro- 
bation of  the  same  and  remonstrate  against  any  action 
or  legislation  of  Congress."  A  school  boy  in  Green- 
ville, B.  F.  Perry,  criticised  this  action  of  the  legisla- 
ture: "The  adoption  of  Judge  Smith's  resolutions  was 
truly  a  presumptuous  act.  The  inferior  servants  were 
dictating  to  their  masters  and  attempting  to  control 
the  proceedings  of  the  superior  ones."  Not  many 
years  were  to  pass  before  both  Williams  and  Perry  were 
to  be  charged  with  abandoning  their  positions,  the 
latter  waxing  warmer  about  the  tariff  iniquity,  the 
former  recoiling  before  the  prospect  of  civil  war  and 
dissension.  Senator  Smith,  however,  looked  back  upon 
the  resolutions  as  an  eye-opener  in  respect  to  internal 
improvements,  "which  the  favorites  of  South  Carolina 
were  cherishing  both  in  and  out  of  Congress."  The 
legislature  by  a  close  vote  reinstated  Judge  Smith  as 
United  States  Senator  in  1826  and  General  Williams 
voted  for  the  resolutions  declaring  that  Congress  does 
not  have  power  under  the  Constitution  to  adopt  a 
general  system  of  internal  improvement  and  as  a 
national  measure,  that  it  was  an  unconstitutional  exer- 
cise of  power  on  the  part  of  Congress  to  lay  duties  to 
protect  domestic  manufactures  and  to  tax  the  citizens 
of  one  state  to  make  roads  and  canals  for  the  benefit  of 

239 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

the  citizens  of  another."  The  state  was  represented 
in  the  United  States  Senate  in  1827  by  Hayne  and 
Smith,  with  Calhoun  as  the  presiding  officer.  The 
action  of  the  legislature  in  electing  Smith  and  in  ap- 
proving his  resolutions  became  a  visible  turning  point 
in  Calhoun's  political  policy,  and  it  was  in  accord  with 
his  answer  once  to  a  friend  who  remarked,  "You 
ought  to  be  in  Columbia  looking  after  your  reelection. " 
"The  legislators,"  he  replied,  "are  in  Columbia  to 
attend  to  their  business,  and  I  am  here  to  attend  to 
mine."  It  was  during  the  spring  session  that  as  pre- 
siding officer  his  vote  was  decisive  against  the  increased 
tariff  on  woolens. 

In  July  following  David  J.  McCord  used  novel 
language  before  an  anti-tariff  meeting  called  to  meet  in 
Columbia:  "Should  it  be  necessary  to  raise  a  question 
between  liberty  and  the  Union,  no  man  of  spirit  or 
sense  could  hesitate,"  and  his  words  were  almost  for- 
gotten under  the  force  of  what  Thomas  Cooper,  presi- 
dent of  the  South  Carolina  College,  had  to  say:  "We 
shall  ere  long  be  compelled  to  calculate  the  value  of 
our  Union,  and  to  inquire  of  what  use  to  us,  is  this 
most  unequal  alliance,  by  which  the  North  has  been 
always  the  gainer  and  the  South  always  the  loser.  Is 
it  worth  while  to  continue  this  Union  of  States,  in 
which  the  North  demands  to  be  our  masters  and  we 
are  required  to  be  their  tributaries,  who  with  insulting 
mockery,  call  the  yoke  they  put  on  our  necks  the  Ameri- 
can system.  The  question,  however,  is  fast  approach- 
ing to  the  alternative  of  submission  or  separation." 
An  editor  in  Greenville  unhesitatingly  declared  that 
"we  would  be  glad  to  see  the  first  traitor  who  should 
propose  a  dissolution  of  the  union,  sacrificed  to  honest 

240 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

indignation  and  hung  without  judge  or  jury";  but 
Calhoun  in  a  letter  to  James  Edward  Calhoun  evidently 
with  more  caution  and  prudence  alluded  to  the  recent 
meeting  in  Columbia  and  other  anti-tariff  gatherings: 
"The  South  has  commenced  with  remonstrating  against 
this  unjust  and  oppressive  attempt  to  sacrifice  their 
interest;  and  I  do  trust,  that  they  will  not  be  provoked 
to  step  beyond  strict  constitutional  remedies."  And 
it  may  be  added  that  in  this  same  year  he  had  com- 
menced in  earnest  to  devise  the  constitutional  remedy 
which  he  hoped  would  check  a  rapacious  majority  on 
the  one  side  and  the  centrifugal  tendency,  shown  so 
manifestly  in  the  Columbia  meeting,  on  the  other. 

The  youthful  statesman,  Perry,  regarded  the  political 
situation  as  most  serious  in  the  history  of  the  country; 
and  Calhoun  declared  that  "few  men  realized  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  present  juncture;  and  that  it  could  not 
pass  away  without  testing  severely  the  character  of 
those  who  are  prominently  before  the  nation."  He  had 
already,  in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  been  under  the 
charge  of  sharing  in  the  profits  of  government  contracts 
and  after  a  scrutiny  of  forty  days  by  a  committee,  a 
majority  of  whom  he  called  his  "enemies,"  he  was  honor- 
ably acquitted.  He  attributed  the  verdict  to  a  life  of 
spotless  purity,  but  he  was  not  infallible  in  supposing 
such  a  characteristic  a  shield  against  slander.  Some 
forty  years  after  the  acquittal  Jefferson  Davis,  being 
a  prisoner  in  Fortress  Monroe  and  in  his  weakness  per- 
mitted to  walk  outside  with  General  Nelson  A.  Miles 
and  Dr.  Craven,  talked  with  Miles  about  the  fortifi- 
cations known  as  Rip  Raps,  until  Miles  in  an  interroga- 
tive tone  repeated  the  slander  that  "Calhoun  had 
made  much  money  by  speculations  or  favoring  the 

241 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF     . 

speculations  of  his  friends  connected  with  this  work." 
"In  a  moment,"  said  Dr.  Craven,  "Davis  started  to  his 
feet,  betraying  much  indignation  by  his  excited  manner 
and  flushed  cheek.  It  was  a  transfiguration  of  friendly 
emotion,  the  feeble  and  wasted  invalid  and  prisoner 
suddenly  forgetting  his  bonds,  forgetting  his  debility, 
and  ablaze  with  eloquent  anger  against  this  injustice 
to  the  memory  of  one  whom  he  loved  and  reverenced. 
Mr.  Calhoun,  he  said,  lived  a  whole  atmosphere  above 
any  sordid  or  dishonorable  thought — was  of  a  nature  to 
which  a  mean  act  was  impossible."  Another  test  that 
wounded  him  in  the  tenderest  point  was  the  charge  of 
ingratitude  to  Crawford  by  two  Georgia  papers;  but  a 
more  serious  matter  was  the  effort  of  Crawford  and  his 
friends  to  side-track  him  by  the  nomination  of  Nathan- 
iel Macon  for  the  Vice-Presidency.  Preceding  and 
connected  with  it  was  the  tour  of  Martin  Van  Buren 
and  Churchill  Cambreling,  of  New  York,  after  the  close 
of  the  spring  session,  1827,  through  Virginia  down  to 
Georgia,  to  the  home  of  W.  H.  Crawford,  Presidential 
candidate,  defeated  in  1816  and  1824.  Their  mission 
was  to  bring  about  an  alliance  between  the  Crawford 
and  Jackson  forces,  with  a  view  to  the  campaign  in 
1828;  but  that  did  not  exhaust  the  motives  for  the 
journey.  Mr.  Crawford  was  an  avowed  enemy  to  the 
man  whom  Van  Buren  had  most  to  dread  as  a  successor 
to  President  Jackson,  in  the  event  of  his  election;  and 
from  Crawford  some  things  could  be  learned  which,  at 
the  right  time,  might  be  of  great  service.  Crawford 
and  his  friends  in  South  Carolina  thought  Calhoun 
should  not  be  Jackson's  running  mate.  Crawford 
could  not  forget  how  Calhoun  had  opposed  and  thwarted 
his   Presidential   aspirations,   and   Smith   knew  what 

242 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

turned  the  scales  against  him  as  United  States  Senator. 
They  were  in  no  mood  to  elevate  by  their  votes  their 
arch-enemy,  by  putting  him  on  Jackson's  ticket.  But 
Van  Buren  was  too  wise  or  too  weak  to  carry  out  the 
wishes  of  his  Southern  friends.  He  was  for  unifying  all 
parties  at  present  in  order  that  Jackson's  election  might 
be  made  certain,  as  is  seen  in  a  letter  from  Crawford  to 
Van  Buren: 

"  Wood  Lawn,  21st  Dec.  1827. 
"Hon'ble  Martin  Van  Buren, 

"Sir:  .  .  .  Since  you  left  Gen.  Williams'  last 
spring,  I  received  a  letter  from  him  thanking  me  for 
my  supposed  influence  in  securing  him  the  pleasure  of 
a  visit  from  you.  In  that  letter,  he  expressed  (himself) 
much  pleased  with  the  visit.  But  he  expressed  regret 
that  you  appeared  to  him  disposed  to  let  Calhoun 
remain  in  his  present  situation ;  whereas  he  thought  Mr. 
Calhoun  ought  to  be  punished  for  the  mischief  he  had 
done.  He  further  informed  me  that  he  said  as  much 
as  (he)  could  to  change  your  opinion.  About  the  same 
time  Governor  Taylor  informed  (me)  that  Jackson 
ought  to  know  and,  if  he  does  not  he  shall  know,  that 
at  the  Calhoun  caucus  in  Columbia,  the  epithet  'Mili- 
tary Chieftain'  was  bandied  about  more  flippantly  than 
it  has  been  since  by  the  partisans  of  H.  Clay,  and  by 
none  more  than  by  the  family  friends  of  Mr.  Calhoun. 
That  gentleman  is  now  down  in  his  State  and  his  degra- 
dation is  no  where  desired  (more)  than  by  the  leading 
men  in  South  Carolina. 

"I  think  therefore  it  is  extremely  desirable  that  a 
candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency  should  be  started 
against  Mr.  C.  during  the  present  Congress.     If  he 

243 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

should  be  defeated  there  will  be  little  danger  that  he 
will  be  taken  up  by  Jackson.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
frail  health  of  the  latter  gentleman  makes  it  very 
desirable  that  the  Vice-President  should  be  a  man 
worthy  of  the  highest  trust.  I  would  respectfully 
suggest  the  name  of  Nathaniel  Macon  for  that  office. 
The  friends  of  the  administration  would  doubtless  pre- 
fer him  or  any  other  to  Mr.  C.  And  New  York,  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina  and  Georgia  would,  I  should 
think,  vote  for  any  man  against  him,  the  three  latter 
states  I  am  sure  of.  You  know  better  than  I  about 
the  first. 

"Yours  respectfully, 
"W.  H.  Crawford." 

The  current  in  favor  of  Calhoun  was  stronger  than 
the  opposition.  Several  Northern  legislatures  nomi- 
nated him  and  Virginia,  whose  votes  he  always  prized 
high,  was  in  his  favor.  The  mischief  for  which  General 
Williams  wanted  him  punished  was  connected  with  the 
tariff,  internal  improvements  and  the  national  bank. 
His  opposition  to  Calhoun  was  not  embittered  by  any 
personal  animosity  and  the  only  punishment  he  ever 
wished  to  mete  out  to  his  erring  fellow-citizens  was 
retirement  to  private  life  where  they  might  be  free  to 
work  out  their  own  salvation.  Benton,  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Crawford  and  Smith  had  no  ordinary  aversion 
to  Calhoun,  but  Williams  was  judicial  even  when  de- 
feated and  frankly  admitted  that  the  Calhoun  party 
was  directed  by  superior  statesmanship.  The  year 
1828  was  notable  for  the  passage  of  the  "bill  of  abomina- 
tions" and  the  presentation  of  "the  Exposition"  to  the 
legislature.     After  the  passage  of  the  tariff  bill,  the 

244 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

South  Carolina  delegation,  excepting  Senator  Smith, 
met  to  discuss  the  propriety  of  leaving  their  seats  and 
going  home,  but  the  project  was  defeated  by  the  oppo- 
sition of  Colonel  Drayton.  Governor  Perry  uses  Con- 
gressman Mitchell  as  authority  for  the  statement.  It 
is  also  substantiated  by  General  Williams'  letters  and 
most  of  all  by  the  Charleston  papers  which  have  in 
them  a  long  discussion,  begun  by  Hayne's  answer  to  a 
direct  question  put  to  him  by  an  editor  in  Georgetown. 
Some  of  the  delegation  addressed  their  constituents  in 
wrought-up  language  on  the  injustice  of  the  tariff. 
McDuffie,  who  was  thought  by  many  to  be  second  not 
even  to  Demosthenes  in  impassioned  eloquence,  was  the 
natural  leader  in  the  crusade.  Meetings  were  held  all 
over  the  state  to  stir  up  the  people.  (Perry.)  It  was  in 
connection  with  this  general  awakening  on  the  subject 
that  five  men  at  Union  were  appointed  to  address 
General  WTilliams  and  seek  his  advice.  The  pertinent 
part  of  the  letter  only  can  be  given : 

"We  respectfully  ask  to  be  informed  by  you  of  the 
state  of  public  feeling  and  public  opinion  in  your  section 
of  the  State  in  relation  to  the  passage  of  the  tariff  and 
whether  the  people  seem  determined  to  oppose  the 
operation  of  the  law,  and  if  so,  what  mode  of  opposition 
will  in  your  opinion  best  comport  with  their  views  and 
feelings.  We  further  beg  you  to  communicate  to  us, 
your  opinions  and  views  as  to  the  policy  which  under 
existing  circumstances,  may  be  most  effective  and 
speedy,  in  producing  the  discomfiture  and  defeat  what 
is  termed  the  protective  policy.  Give  us  your  advice 
on  this  matter  of  delicate  and  difficult  import. " 

The  reply,  by  request,  was  made  immediately.     It 

245 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

is  one  of  the  most  important  of  all  his  communications 
and  was  intended  to  be  pacific  in  its  results.  Except- 
ing his  pertinent  and  elegant  preface  and  brief  conclu- 
sion the  full  text  is  given: 

"The  state  of  public  feeling  in  this  part  of  the  State 
is  extremely  angry  and  indignant:  and  the  public 
opinion  is  that  the  system  which  has  excited  the  anger 
and  indignation  is  founded  on  injustice,  being  in  its 
very  nature  extortion  from  the  many  for  the  benefit  of 
the  few  only;  it  is  moreover  wholly  and  grossly  in  vio- 
lation of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  I  have 
not  a  doubt  that  this  is  the  opinion  of  99-100  of  the 
citizens  of  this  Congressional  District.  It  is  not  so  easy 
to  say  what  proportion,  if  any  of  them,  are  determined 
to  oppose  operation  of  the  law.  I  fear  we  have  some 
young  and  gallant  spirits,  who,  impatient  of  wrongs,  are 
willing  to  risk  their  lives,  if  not  their  necks,  in  a  military 
career,  if  only  for  the  fun  of  it;  but  of  the  discreet,  sober 
minded  or  aged,  I  have  not  met  one,  who  will  counte- 
nance any  other  'opposition'  than  such  as  I  will  here- 
after describe.  We  have  had  since  the  adjournment  of 
Congress  no  public  meetings  on  the  subject  and  doubt 
if  there  will  be  any,  at  least  in  this  immediate  neigh- 
bor hood.  Almost  all  the  influential  part  of  the  com- 
munity are  for  moderating  the  excitement  as  much  as 
possible. 

"As  to  my  own  opinions  and  views  (allow  me  to 
declare  I  state  them  solely  because  you  desire  them), 
they  are  in  perfect  union  with  those  of  my  fellow  citi- 
zens, on  the  character  of  the  laws  complained  of.  I 
believe  them  to  be  unwise,  unjust,  unconstitutional. 
But  at  the  same  time,  cannot  hide  from  myself  that 

246 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

there  are  other  considerations,  growing  out  of  the  sub- 
ject, that  ought  not  to  be  disregarded.  They  were 
adopted  after  long  deliberation,  with  all  the  forms  and 
sanctions  of  legislative  proceedings  by  a  decided  major- 
ity. That  the  majority  ought  to  rule  is  a  principle  on 
which  all  our  institutions  are  bottomed.  It  is  just  as 
much  the  duty  of  a  minority  to  obey,  as  it  is  that  a 
majority  shall  govern,  according  to  the  specific  forms 
granted  in  the  Constitution.  Whether  the  powers  dele- 
gated to  Congress  have  been  exercised  properly,  are 
questions  to  be  decided  by  reason,  not  by  force.  A 
difference  of  opinion  will  arise  on  almost  any  subject; 
few  indeed  if  any  of  them  ought  to  be  made  questions 
for  dissolving  the  Union;  and  after  all  to  what  can  we 
appeal  with  so  much  propriety  as  to  the  sense  of  the 
majority.  Let  us  suppose  the  worst,  that  the  tariff 
laws  are  unconstitutional  and  that  they  will  be  persisted 
in  by  the  majority  who  have  passed  them;  are  we  not 
still  bound  to  exercise  our  best  reason,  in  deciding 
whether  it  is  such  a  case  that  dismemberment  of  the 
Union  alone  can  remedy;  and  if  so,  whether  it  shall  be 
resorted  to.  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves,  this  in  fact 
is  the  end,  and  the  only  one,  to  which  resistance  by  the 
legislature  leads.  Is  it  expedient  to  follow  it?  I  think 
not.  Is  there  a  discreet  citizen  in  Union  District,  can 
one  be  found  in  the  State,  who  will  prefer  to  take  his 
musket  and  shoot  down  twenty-three  Kentuckyans  and 
Yankees  (the  destruction  of  life  must  be  in  this  propor- 
tion or  it  will  be  against  us)  rather  than  make  his  vn 
coarse  woolen  cloths?  For  it  would  seem  that  the 
increased  duties  on  hemp,  iron,  molasses  and  sugar 
excite  but  a  small  share  of  anger,  our  own  representa- 
tives having  voted  for  them.     This  may  be  a  coarse 

247 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

way  of  stating  the  case,  but  strip  it  naked  and  it  is  a 
fair  one.  But  a  very  important  inquiry  remains  to  be 
settled  before  we  urge  the  legislature  to  resistance. 
Ought  we  not  to  be  clearly  satisfied  that  the  legislature 
itself  can  remedy  the  evil?  I  believe  the  case  does  not 
warrant  such  an  appeal,  and  what  is  still  more,  if  at- 
tempted, will  not  better  our  situation.  I  therefore 
prefer  to  suffer,  while  suffering  is  tolerable,  rather  than 
encounter  evils  much  more  terrible.  I  have  seen  no 
project  yet  suggested  that  to  my  mind  promises  suc- 
cess, in  any  attempt  to  coerce  Congress  into  our  views. 
We  are  all  convinced  that  the  system  of  protection  is 
unwise  and  injurious  to  the  general  interest.  We  have 
first  discovered  this  truth  not  because  we  are  wiser  than 
the  rest  of  the  Union,  but  because  it  was  first  made  to 
bear  heavily  on  us.  The  last  law  on  the  subject  is 
wider  and  of  more  general  operation.  Surely  it  is 
prudent  to  wait  until  there  shall  have  been  ample  time 
to  produce  the  same  conviction  among  others  equally 
interested  with  ourselves.  At  all  events,  I  believe  it 
better  to  confide  yet  longer  in  the  generous  truth  that 
4  error  of  opinion  may  be  tolerated  while  reason  is  left 
free  to  combat  it.*  We  were  not  sparing  of  our  cen- 
sures when  New  England  meditated  resistance  to  the 
embargo.  We  believed  Massachusetts  recreant  to  vir- 
tue and  love  of  country,  when  she  withheld  her  militia 
during  the  war.  There  was  not  a  man  among  us  who 
did  not  pronounce  the  Hartford  Convention  a  traitor- 
ous association;  indisputably  it  becomes  us  to  look  well 
to  it  that  we  do  not  tread  in  the  very  footsteps  which 
we  have  denounced  with  so  much  bitterness.  Let  us 
not  forget  that  at  the  very  time  when  New  England 
thus  acted,  the  administration  of  the  general  govern- 

248 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

ment,  having  exhausted  its  funds,  had  not  wherewith 
to  keep  in  the  field  the  troops  stationed  on  our  seaboard 
for  its  defence.  Of  this  dreadful  truth  Gen.  Pinckney 
advised  the  then  Governor  of  South  Carolina — how 
did  the  legislature  act?  Did  it  embarrass  Congress 
with  reproaches  or  upbraid  the  Executive  with  the 
failure  of  its  most  important  constitutional  duties?  No, 
it  magnanimously  advanced,  without  a  dissenting  voice, 
the  estimated  amount  of  internal  taxes  of  the  ensuing 
year,  before  even  the  law  was  passed  imposing  them. 
Who  is  there  among  us  who  is  not  in  the  present  proud 
of  this  transaction,  notwithstanding  a  portion  of  this 
very  debt  is  meanly  withheld  and  for  which  the  legisla- 
ture has  in  vain  petitioned.  Deplorable  indeed  will  be 
the  act,  which  shall  first  subtract  from  the  moral  force 
and  beauty  of  so  bright  an  example.  I  have  said  I 
cannot  see,  should  the  legislature  be  driven  to  take  the 
remedy  into  its  own  hands,  how  it  can  better  our  situa- 
tion. I  take  it  for  granted  no  one  will  contend  that  it 
will  be  bettering  the  case,  to  be  at  open  war  with  the 
rest  of  the  Union.  If  there  be  any  body  so  deluded  and 
frantic  with  passion  as  to  think  otherwise,  to  such  one 
I  do  not  appeal.  Let  us  suppose  the  next  step  short  of 
war,  that  we  have  withdrawn  from  the  Union  and  that 
the  general  government  will  not  resort  to  open  war  to 
prevent  it,  are  there  not  other  and  ampler  means  by 
which  it  could  enter  into  the  unprofitable  contest  'of 
who  shall  do  the  other  the  most  harm,'  making  our  own 
government  to  us,  what  that  of  every  weak  and  feeble 
state  has  been  to  its  citizens  or  subjects,  a  very  curse. 
Suppose  our  delegation  withdrawn  from  Congress,  the 
custom  houses  taken  into  our  hands  and  all  our  sea- 
ports declared  free  (my  eyes  have  been  nearly  blistered 

249 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

by  looking  on  such  a  project  on  paper).  It  appears  to 
me  that  any  man  who  is  wicked  enough  to  conceive 
such  a  project,  must  have  wit  enough  to  see  how  easy  it 
would  be  for  Congress  to  prevent  every  possible  circum- 
stance, of  supposed  advantages,  from  accruing  to  us. 
These  projects,  weak  as  they  are,  furnish  the  most  ef- 
fective resistance  by  the  legislature.  With  infinite  re- 
spect for  the  suggestor,  I  consider  the  attempt  to  tax 
domestic  goods,  as  published  in  a  speech  in  the  Tele- 
scope, still  weaker.  Of  success  from  such  means  of  co- 
ercion, I  utterly  despair.  That  which  you  have  sug- 
gested, as  being  most  favorably  entertained  in  your 
district,  namely,  associations  for  non-consumption  of 
eastern  and  western  articles,  I  think  better  of,  only 
because  it  may  keep  the  two  governments,  State  and 
United  States,  from  direct  conflict.  It  will  only  array 
(bad  enough  God  knows)  section  against  section.  Such 
a  course  if  executed,  would  probably  have  a  sensible 
effect,  in  opening  the  eyes  of  those  who  have  had  too 
much  success  in  legislating  a  goodly  portion  of  the  prof- 
its of  our  labor  to  their  own  benefit.  But  it  is  to  say 
the  least,  much  to  be  apprehended  that,  resolutions  for 
such  objects  would  be  badly  executed,  and  if  obeyed  at 
all,  would  be  for  a  sufficient  time,  only  by  the  virtuous. 
I  cannot  therefore  think  favorably  of  any  project,  that 
shall  lead  directly  or  indirectly  to  dismember  the  Union ; 
or  that  may,  without  more  time  for  conviction,  render 
hostile  any  portion  of  that  family,  among  which,  union 
and  harmony  alone  can  give  strength  and  prosperity. 
Dreadful  must  be  the  times  and  severe  the  sufferings  of 
our  people,  that  shall  warrant  an  appeal  to  the  elements 
of  passion  and  discord  for  relief.  My  advice  therefore 
is,  to  abstain  from  every  act  that  will  add  to  the  present 

250 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

excitement,  confident  that  the  good  sense  of  the  people 
at  large  will  with  moderation  and  justice  on  our  part, 
remedy  our  evils,  better  or  sooner  than  we  can  our- 
selves; most  of  all,  I  implore  you,  not  to  urge  the  legis- 
lature to  entertain  any  discussion  on  the  subject,  what- 
ever. In  addition  to  such  a  course  of  moderation  and 
loyalty,  I  consider  it  perfectly  consistent  and  moral 
that  we  should,  with  settled  and  persevering  determina- 
tion to  do  everything  individually  that  is  legal,  to  take 
ourselves  out  of  the  operation  of  all  the  tariff  laws,  that 
have  been  or  may  be  enacted.  All  that  the  legislature 
or  voluntary  associations  can  do,  with  any  probability 
of  success,  may  be  better  done  and  ought  to  be,  by 
individuals.  We  have  ample  means  to  reach  the  inter- 
ests of  the  friends  of  the  tariff,  if  we  will  but  use  them. 

"It  has  been  ascertained  that  there  are  brought  into 
this  State,  over  the  Saluda  Mountain  road,  from  the 
west,  one  and  a  half  million  worth  of  live  stock  an- 
nually. If  we  abstain  from  purchasing  these,  can  it  be 
doubted  that  the  reaction  will  extend  to  every  fireside 
west  of  the  mountains.  At  least  our  old  friends  there, 
might  be  induced  to  remember  (the  delusion  incident 
to  the  present  contest  being  over)  that  they  have  de- 
serted us  for  new,  not  better  friends,  even  for  those  who, 
to  say  the  least,  as  uniformly  opposed,  as  we  have  been 
friendly,  to  their  admission  into  the  family  of  states. 
Our  influence  on  New  England  is  of  the  same  nature, 
but  stronger,  because,  to  a  much  larger  amount.  No 
people  on  earth  have  been  so  distinguished  for  shrewd- 
ness in  discovering  their  own  interest;  and  perhaps, 
never  harder  to  drive  from  it;  touch  this  and  our  cause 
is  safe. 

"Let  us  then  manufacture  our  own  clothes,  and  be 

251 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

wise  enough  to  wear  them.  Let  us  raise  our  own  horses, 
mules,  cattle  and  hogs;  and  if  by  these  measures,  we 
shall  become  more  economical  and  industrious  and 
thereby  relieve  ourselves  from  debt  and  embarrassment, 
we  shall  have  ample  reason  to  rejoice  and  wait  with 
patience  and  good  faith  for  the  time  when  high  duties 
on  hemp,  iron,  sugar  and  molasses,  and  all  the  other 
evils  of  the  policy  of  protection,  shall  convince  the 
other  portions  of  the  Union  that  the  true  and  inherent 
character  of  their  system  is  a  tax  on  the  many  for  the 
benefit  of  the  few  and  wealthy.  This  is  the  resistance 
I  approve,  will  practice,  to  the  utmost  of  my  ability. 
It  is  a  resistance,  by  which  we  can  live  and  profit;  which 
the  laws  warrant;  which  our  consciences  justify  and 
which  I  believe,  will  soonest  repeal  the  obnoxious  laws 
of  which  we  now  so  justly  complain. 

"Most  respectfully,  your  fellow-servant, 

" David  R.  Williams." 

The  letter  to  the  Union  friends  increased  the  fame 
but  not  the  happiness  of  its  author.  It  was  copied  in 
many  papers,  read  widely  and  commented  on  in  public 
and  private  with  and  without  approbation.  It  created 
a  sensation  in  which  there  was  no  approach  to  oneness  of 
mind  in  the  state,  except  in  the  dislike  of  the  tariff. 
To  some  it  reached  the  dignity  of  an  inspired  communi- 
cation, texts  from  which  served  as  the  peg  on  which 
anonymous  writers  expanded  their  own  views  for  pub- 
lic consumption;  but  the  editor  of  the  Charleston 
Mercury  and  a  swarm  of  anonymous  critics,  protested 
against  and  ridiculed  the  sentiments  or  the  past  conduct 
of  General  Williams.  He  was  pronounced  inconsistent 
with  his  record  in  the  legislature,  1824-27,  in  regard  to 

252 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

negro  property,  in  voting  for  the  state's  right  to  regu- 
late it  and  in  regard  to  his  support  in  1825  of  Smith's 
resolutions,  and  in  his  not  pouring  oil  on  the  troubled 
waters  in  1827.  One  writer  declared  the  government 
which  cheated  the  state  out  of  money  lent  to  it  in  the 
War  of  1812  ought  not  to  be  trusted  again.  "The 
little  Federalist  editor  of  the  Mercury"  protested  in 
strong  terms  to  the  doctrine  that  the  tariff  is  unconsti- 
tutional but  because  it  has  been  passed  by  a  majority 
it  must  be  submitted  to.  It  was  a  slavish  doctrine 
never  to  be  embraced  in  this  country.  In  comparison 
with  the  state,  it  made  the  majority  in  Congress  om- 
nipotent. It  was  the  essence  of  consolidation.  Even 
Crawford  had  said  the  situation  of  the  Southern  States 
would  justify  open  and  armed  resistance.  In  opposi- 
tion to  this  construction  put  by  the  Mercury  on  the 
statement  of  General  Williams,  the  City  Gazette  was  a 
better  exegete  in  its  declaration  that  General  Williams 
never  did  intend  to  say  that  a  law  passed  by  a  majority 
in  Congress  which  is  a  direct  violation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion ought  to  be  submitted  to  merely  because  a  majority 
had  enacted  the  law.  He  on  the  contrary  intends  to 
say  that  although  99-100ths  of  his  fellow-citizens  be- 
lieve it  to  be  unconstitutional,  yet  inasmuch  as  it  has 
been  passed  according  to  the  forms  of  the  Constitution, 
and  is  a  law  of  the  land  until  it  is  repealed  or  declared 
unconstitutional,  he  would  advise  a  withdrawal,  for 
the  present,  as  far  as  possible  from  the  reach  of  the  law 
rather  than  from  the  Union.  The  Telescope  in  Colum- 
bia, around  which  his  party  friends  were  gathered, 
surprised  him  with  adverse  editorial  comments.  His 
immediate  reply  was  held  back,  for  reasons  given  below, 
by  his  friends  in  Columbia,  but  he  sent  another  broad- 

253 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

side  to  the  Telescope,  which  will  be  drawn  upon  only 
in  some  detached  sections.  As  to  the  abundant  criti- 
cism passed  on  him,  he  said: 

"From  the  editor  of  the  Telescope,  who  first  made  a 
powerful  pass  at  my  supposed  principles,  to  the  gentle- 
man who  has  indulged  himself  in  a  sneer  at  my  character 
over  the  signature  of  a  'Citizen  of  Darlington,'  all  have 
evaded  or  wholly  avoided  the  main  point  of  inquiry,  to 
exercise  themselves  in  one  uniform  strain  of  increpation 
about  my  principles.  At  this  I  perhaps  ought  not  to 
express  surprise;  older  and  better  men  have  thus  been 
used  before;  but  I  will  say  I  feel  deep  regret  that  a 
disposition  to  this  end  has  existed  anywhere  in  the 
state,  seeing  the  palpable  object  aimed  at,  was  to  unite 
my  fellow-citizens  to  the  observation  of  that  modera- 
tion which  becomes  men  and  which  is  alone  to  be  found 
within  the  bounds  of  reason.  Instead  of  this  a  stranger, 
ignorant  of  the  events,  would  naturally  suspect  that  I 
must  have  been  guilty  of  some  heinous  offence  against 
public  morals,  or  at  least,  been  using  in  my  devotions, 
the  new  litany  of  the  Baltimore  dinner,  praying  for 
war,  pestilence  and  famine.  To  the  gentlemen  of  the 
press  who  have  combatted  some  of  my  opinions,  but 
have  allowed  me  to  be  fairly  heard,  I  return  my  thanks. 
To  those  who  have  abused  me,  I  have  been  told  there 
are  some,  without  sending  me  their  publications,  I 
must  think  they  have  for  once  omitted  the  practice  of 
the  sublime  scriptural  doctrine  of  doing  as  they  would 
be  done  by.  To  those  gentlemen  from  different  parts 
of  the  state  who  have  sent  me  their  'thanks,'  their  'grati- 
tude,' I  shall  have  said  enough,  when  I  add,  that  they 
have  given  me  the  blessed  consolation  of  knowing  that 
tried  by  my  'peers,'  I  need  not  dread  their  verdict." 

254 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

To  the  wily  class  whom  he  called  "thoroughbred 
office  hunters"  and  wished  to  be  rid  of  or  even  to  appease, 
he  said,  "I  beg  these  gentlemen  to  believe  that  I  stand 
in  the  way  of  not  one  in  the  whole  fraternity.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  gift  of  the  legislature,  nor  of  the 
people,  which  I  seek  or  wish  for.  Both  have  already 
honored  me  beyond  my  seeking — infinitely  beyond  my 
consciousness  of  desert.  I  have  declined  a  reelection 
(to  the  State  Senate) — the  place  I  lately  occupied  will 
be  filled  by  an  abler  man.  I  have  again  cheerfully 
sunk  into  the  mass  of  private  citizens — am  practically 
as  dead  as  if  I  were  with  Pharaoh's  host,  at  the  bottom 
of  the  Red  Sea.  I  hope  I  have  disarmed  these  gentle- 
men; if  not,  I  can  only  add,  'Strike  if  you  will,  but 
listen/  " 

He  had  spent  long  and  dreary  hours  trying  to  find 
some  scheme  to  get  rid  of  the  tariff  by  coercion,  but  he 
could  find  nothing  that  was  not  equally  a  violation  of 
the  Constitution  as  the  tariff  itself.  The  legislature 
has  no  power  to  coerce  Congress.  It  may  give  cool 
and  deliberate  consideration,  or  do  anything  which 
properly  relates  to  argument,  "in  good  faith  to  our 
compound  system  of  government,  without  infringing 
or  infracting  the  rights  of  the  Union ;  but  the  moment  it 
departs  from  these,  leaving  the  broad  and  legitimate 
field  of  argument,  it  commences  that  resistance,  no 
matter  how  small  or  modified,  which  leads  to  disunion. 
To  whom  is  it  given  to  see  the  final  result  of  any,  the 
slightest  conflict  between  the  two  governments,  with 
our  passions  in  a  flame,  and  our  injuries  goading  us  to 
fury  and  madness,  who  is  there  to  stop  this  awful  surge 
that  must  land  us  in  utter  ruin  and  desolation?  As 
well  may  you  hope  to  obstruct  Niagara  with  a  pebble." 

255 


CHAPTER  XXII 

UNABATED    INTEREST   IN    HIS    COUNTRY'S    WELFARE 

(Continued) 

ON  THE  14th  of  August  (1828)  General  Wil- 
liams attended  an  anti-tariff  meeting  at 
Columbia  and  made  an  eloquent  speech 
against  following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Hartford  Con- 
vention. Professor  Henry  of  the  State  College  moved 
to  strike  out  of  the  resolution  that  part  containing  the 
abstract  doctrine  of  attachment  to  the  Union,  and  was 
defeated  by  two  votes.  It  furnished  the  occasion  to 
the  City  Gazette  to  observe  that  Professor  Henry's 
European  education  fitted  him  to  be  a  fine  adjunct  to 
Dr.  Cooper.  The  letter  to  the  "Union  folks"  brought 
General  Williams  into  trouble  with  his  friends  in  Colum- 
bia, who  were  yet  together  as  undeveloped  germs  in 
the  parent  bulb,  to  be  separated  as  the  political  contest 
waxed  warm.  Judge  Withers  was  the  editor  of  the 
Telescope  and  the  author  of  the  critical  comments  upon 
the  Union  letter.  Being  misinformed  as  to  the  real 
author,  General  Williams  wrote  "a  warm  and  lengthy 
reply"*  which  was  judiciously  held  back  by  the  Tele- 
scope and  looked  forward  to  as  "a  great  public  benefit" 
by  the  City  Gazette.  He,  it  is  inferred  from  his  guarded 
language,  was  hitting  at  Dr.  Cooper,  Professor  Henry 

♦Quoted  in  part  at  the  close  of  Chapter  XXI. 

256 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

"and  other  fine  writers  and  men  of  science  and  literature 
in  Columbia,  who  give  tone  and  character  to  much  of  the 
reputation  of  the  state  in  the  walks  of  literature  and 
belles  lettres;  but  the  blow  was  supposed  to  be  aimed 
especially  at  W.  C.  Preston  and  D.  J.  McGord  and  the 
allusion  to  the  wrongheaded  construction  upon  his 
letter  could  mean  only  Judge  Withers.  The  letter 
was  finally  suppressed  and  peace  restored,  in  which 
General  Williams  was  left  the  only  'wounded  pigeon.' 
The  ridicule  of  his  friend  Withers,  however,  'cost'  him 
all  the  philosophy  he  could  master  to  submit  to  it,  but 
he  did  and  in  silence,  and  was  glad  that  he  had  enough 
to  suppress  the  resentment  he  at  the  moment  was 
oppressed  with."  His  friend,  Senator  Smith,  also 
could  not  agree  with  him  in  some  of  the  positions  taken 
in  the  letter.  Smith,  like  Williams,  inhaled  an  anti- 
tariff  atmosphere  with  his  first  political  breath,  and  in 
1830  claimed  that  he  had  saved  more  than  ten  million 
dollars  and  had  been  instrumental  in  saving  from  sacri- 
fice many  thousands  of  acres  of  land  (in  1828).  His 
development  was  logically  in  the  direction  of  a  seces- 
sionist, but  if  he  ever  was  in  danger  of  reaching  that  goal 
a  certain  "monster  in  politics"  diverted  his  course. 
A  more  interesting  friendly  difference  appeared  and 
grew  greater  between  him  and  Stephen  D.  Miller. 
Miller  was  a  candidate  to  succeed  Governor  Taylor  and 
was  more  sensitive  to  public  opinion.  He  was  recog- 
nized as  being  an  opponent  to  the  nullifiers,  but  he  de- 
cidedly repudiated  the  remarks  about  our  institutions 
being  bottomed  on  majority  rule,  taking  a  translation 
and  not  the  surface  meaning  of  General  Williams,  who 
had  never  dreamed  of  putting  "a  majority  in  Congress" 
as  a  substitute  for  the  Constitution.     Being  an  inter- 

257 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

ested  on-looker  only  and  not  a  candidate,  and  not 
wishing  to  jeopardize  the  election  of  his  friends,  he 
became  silent  in  their  behalf.  "I  verily  believe,'*  said 
he,  when  he  perceived  the  unexpected  impression, 
"there  is  no  way  left  but  to  chain  me  up  by  a  short 
tether.  I  have  broke  into  the  public  print  under  the 
most  solemn  fears.  I  will  hasten  to  break  out  of  them; 
for  it  would  seem,  if  I  succeed  in  my  object  to  quiet  the 
public  excitement,  I  am  likely  to  excite  my  friends 
against  myself;  or  at  least  give  them  much  trouble." 
He  was  active  in  his  interest  in  the  issue  of  the  campaign 
and  was  delighted  by  the  election  of  Miller  and  equally 
chagrined  at  the  defeat  of  Evans.  After  sufficient 
time  to  diagnose  the  situation,  he  wrote  to  Governor 
Miller:  "Able  as  I  have  always  considered  Mr.  Calhoun 
and  his  friends  at  political  management,  I  consider  them 
now  much  more  so  from  the  issue  of  this,  as  well  as  some 
other  recent  transactions.  I  do  not  in  the  least  doubt 
they  prevented  Major  Hamilton  from  opposing  you, 
and  altho  the  issue  so  far  as  this  single  election  was 
concerned  would  have  been  precisely  the  same,  I  be- 
lieve every  other  would  have  been  very  different.  Upon 
all  others  save  one,  I  felt  no  deep  interest,  while  the 
result  of  that  one  cuts  me  to  the  very  quick.  In  Evans' 
defeat  I  feel  not  only  that  the  radical  party  are  de- 
feated, but  that,  as  a  party,  are  humbled  and  therefore 
disgraced.  Whenever  I  have  thus  spoken,  and  it  has 
always  been  when  I  spoke  at  all,  I  have  been  told  I 
ought  to  take  a  full  share  of  it  to  myself.  Of  this  I  am 
unconscious,  but  it  adds  nothing  to  my  comfort  that 
any  friend  I  had  should  think  so.  This  state  of  things 
opens  to  my  mind  a  most  gloomy  prospect  of  the  future, 
so  far  as  the  doings  of  the  legislature  may  be  affected. 

258 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Without  doubt  the  Calhounists  saw  distinctly  the  state 
of  things  that  would  probably  arise,  consequent  upon 
your  removal  from  the  legislature;  and  it  is  to  their 
foresight  this  statesmanlike  look  into  consequences  that 
induced  them  to  hold  back  Hamilton;  and  by  no  means 
to  any  favorable  impression  toward  you.  You  had 
quite  too  often  assailed  their  principles  and  routed 
their  hosts,  for  them  not  to  cease  (seize)  on  any  oppor- 
tunity that  should  take  you  out  of  the  array  against 
them.  The  prospect  before  us  is  to  me  most  gloomy. 
In  the  Senate  we  are  a  thousand  degrees  below  zero — 
and  in  the  House  so  utterly  powerless  for  want  of  that 
conceit  incident  to  united  wills,  led  by  a  master  spirit, 
that,  I  fear  we  shall  receed  much  further  from  the  true 
principles  and  able  practice,  than  did  the  old  republi- 
cans from  the  days  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  ascendancy.  All 
I  can  say  or  do  is,  good  Lord  deliver  us ! " 

Governor  Perry  judged  that  the  nullifiers'  final  vic- 
tory was  due  to  the  so-called  Jacobin  clubs  formed  late 
in  1830  in  order  to  have  concert  of  action  throughout 
the  state,  raise  money,  publish  campaign  documents 
and  distribute  them  amongst  the  people.  General  Wil- 
liams, the  one  prominent  man  out  of  and  not  seeking 
office,  saw  a  different  cause  for  his  party's  failure — 
inferior  generalship.  Hamilton,  for  one  example,  or- 
ganized the  clubs  in  1830  and  two  years  later  the 
Unionists  formed  "Washington  Societies"  after  they 
had  become  a  minority.  With  Calhoun,  Hamilton, 
McDuffie  and  Hayne  on  the  other  side,  General  Wil- 
liams' order  of  battle  might  have  failed,  but  it  was  the 
only  one  that  had  any  chance  of  success.  He  believed 
that  the  question  of  union  was  the  real  issue.  He  was 
for  urging  on  the  people  the  machinations  of  the  agita- 

259 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

tors  and  pushing  the  subject  rather  than  waiting  "for 
further  developments  of  the  motives  of  the  actors,'*  as 
Miller  recommended.  The  Union  party  was  of  the 
orthodox  species  in  which  it  is  the  law  of  preservation 
to  challenge  the  reformer  or  innovator  on  the  thresh- 
old. The  voice  of  established  authority  is  always 
heard  with  respect  and  it  influences  the  public  mind  at 
once.  The  game  cock  does  not  wait  for  the  motives  of 
an  intruder  into  his  harem  to  be  developed ;  and  General 
Williams  expressed  a  parallel  feeling  in  his  human  breast 
in  saying:  "When  I  see  my  enemy  in  force,  my  first 
impulse  is  to  attack.  It  is  but  a  very  short  space  before 
the  battle  must  be  fought. "  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
same  month  he  said  to  Candidate  Miller:  "I  know  you 
will  forgive  me  when  I  say  I  am  perfectly  convinced 
that  your  first  impressions  were  much  more  correct, 
namely,  to  put  your  election  and  our  party  on  the  broad 
question  of  union  rather  than  keep  open  the  question. 
.  .  .  The  Legislature  cannot  avoid  the  question  of 
union  and  therefore  it  would  have  been  better  for  the 
radicals  to  assume  it,  thereby  giving  impulse  and  in- 
fluence, where  they  must  ultimately  receive  it." 

General  Williams,  as  he  looked  out  from  his  eyrie  in 
the  Pee  Dee  upon  the  troubled  state,  was  still  preferring 
the  tariff  to  civil  war  and  practising  his  method  of  oppo- 
sition to  the  tariff:  "I  shall  make  within  the  year  more 
than  20,000  yards  of  coarse  cotton  and  woolen  goods — 
have  killed  upwards  of  500  head  of  hogs  of  my  own 
raising  and  have  young  mules  and  colts  enough  to 
hinder  me  from  buying  a  western  horse  or  mule  for 
years."  In  this  off  year  in  politics,  he  suffered  a  great 
loss  by  the  Pee  Dee  floods,  pushed  his  factory  work  and 
began  his  cotton  seed  oil  factory.     As  the  year  passed 

260 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

on,  the  condition  of  the  radical  party  in  South  Carolina 
cleared  up  somewhat  and  he  determined  to  carry  the 
war  into  Africa.  Accordingly  he  penned  a  letter  to 
Martin  Van  Buren,  Jackson's  Secretary  of  State,  which 
shows  incidentally  Jackson's  negligence  in  using  his 
legitimate  power  to  help  the  Union  party  against  a 
common  adversary;  and  it  gives  a  glimpse  of  much 
that  otherwise  would  have  been  lost.  It  was  marked 
"confidential"  and  is  preserved  in  the  archives  at 
Washington : 

[Confidential!  "Society  Hill,  17th  Nov.  1829. 

"My  dear  Sir:  .  .  .  Your  visit  through  this 
State  convinced  you  that,  however  ardent  Mr.  Cal- 
houn's few  friends  were,  in  his  service,  they  were  only 
few  in  number,  tho'  able  and  active — You  must  equally 
have  been  satisfied  that,  his  political  adversaries  were 
such  on  principle.  If  there  has  been  any  change  among 
the  citizens  here,  it  is  rather  adverse  to  Mr.  C's  pro- 
motion, as  the  great  turmoil  and  excitement  amongst  us 
are,  I  presume,  calculated  to  make  you  so  believe.  Mr. 
C.  holds  and  probably  no  one  will  question  the  correct- 
ness of  his  opinion,  that  no  man  can  be  influential  at 
Washington  who  does  not  stand  high  at  home.  The 
converse  of  this  opinion  is  probably  equally  well- 
founded.  To  those  who  do  not  know  the  reason  why, 
it  always  appears  that  Mr.  Crawford  was  either  wholly 
ignorant  of  this  state  of  things  in  South  Carolina  or 
despaired  of  altering  it.  You  know  the  truth  to  be, 
he  had  no  means  to  effect  such,  there  being  then  an  in- 
fluence in  the  throne  and  behind  it  which  paralized  his 
power.  The  party  opposed  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  believe  no 
such  facts  exist  now.     We  ask  ourselves  why  it  is  that 

261 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

we  have  never  been  recognized  at  Washington  and  there 
are  none  to  answer.  We  therefore  infer  that  South 
Carolina  is  completely  surrendered  by  those  who  should 
be  in  alliance  with  us,  as  wholly  hopeless.  Without  a 
question,  state  pride  and  the  many  motives  you  will 
understand,  are  in  Mr.  C's  favor,  and  that  to  shake  and 
supercede  them  will  be  difficult,  nay  impossible,  if 
things  are  suffered  to  progress  as  they  now  exist,  touch- 
ing his  misapprehended  influence  and  an  imbecility. 
Difficult  as  may  be  the  task,  to  take  from  him  the  vote 
of  South  Carolina,  it  is  not  impossible,  provided  there 
shall  be  effected  a  demonstration  at  Washington,  not 
only  at  war  with  his  views  but  indicative  of  recognition 
and  confidence  in  his  opponents  here.  To  be  left  alone 
in  the  conflict,  to  fight  against  our  own  kin  and  house- 
hold, will  be  as  it  was  before  to  roll  the  stone  uphill  to 
be  crushed  by  its  recoil;  but  if  you  will  give  us  a  'scuf- 
ling  stick*  to  prop  our  efforts,  I  verily  believe  we  can 
get  the  waggon  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  But  suppose  I  am 
mistaken,  that  we  cannot  deprive  Mr.  C.  of  that  vote, 
is  it  not  obvious  he  stands  stronger  abroad  from  the 
confession  of  that  strength,  than  he  would  do,  if  any- 
thing should  arise  to  start  even  a  doubt  among  other 
states  that  here  he  is  not  supreme.  To  me  this  appears 
clear  and  worth  the  effort.  Fortunately  existing  cir- 
cumstances are  very  favorable  to  make  the  effort  with 
the  chance  of  success,  and  to  risk  nothing.  On  the  part 
of  the  administration  who  appointed  them,  never  was 
a  greater  faux  pas  than  making  Middleton  and  Poinsett 
foreign  ministers,  to  say  nothing  of  their  abilities,  that 
is  wholly  immaterial.  I  allude  to  the  acquisition  of 
strength  by  the  appointing  power.  The  former  is 
probably  without  a  private  or  public  friend  and  the 

262 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

latter  is  scarcely  less  influential.  So  also  of  Mr.  Dis- 
trict Attorney  and  others.  He  was  a  federalist  of  the 
most  obnoxious  stamp  whose  appointment  soured  every 
body,  but  federalists  and  Mr.  C's  friends.  The  ap- 
pointment of  such  men  was  the  clearest  demonstration 
of  what  was  Mr.  C's  standing  at  Washington;  their 
removal  can  scarcely  fail  of  equally  clear  proof  of  de- 
cayed power,  if  their  places  be  filled  with  his  opponents. 
Send  Judge  Smith  to  Petersburgh,  his  stamina  is  as 
able  to  contend  with  the  cold  of  that  region,  as  his 
purse  is  with  its  expenses.  Appoint  W.  C.  Preston  to 
Mexico,  he  is  a  giant  in  mind  and  possesses  all  the  quali- 
ties that  constitute  greatness.  Smith  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  radical  alias  anti-Calhoun  party.  Preston's 
influence  reaches  into  Virginia  also.  In  Smith's  place 
we  will  send  you  Governor  Miller.  The  president  will 
probably  remember  he  was  his  friend  long  since.  I  am 
aware  that  all  your  correspondents  may  not  write  so 
free  and  frank — nay  more,  by  possibility,  it  may  be 
esteemed  too  much  so — disinterestedness  however  is  not 
easily  alarmed  by  appearances,  and  as  there  is  nothing 
in  the  gift  of  government  that  I  want,  I  am  contented 
to  run  the  risks.  I  am  anxious  to  make  this  impression 
on  you,  that  Mr.  Calhoun  holds  influence  here,  only 
because  his  opponents  are  not  properly  recognized  at 
Washington.  A  display  then,  adverse  to  him,  will  en- 
able us  to  triumph  over  him  and  his  friends  here,  that 
we  have,  so  far  as  State  questions  are  concerned  effected 
that  triumph  already  and  can  remain  superior,  if  sup- 
ported by  such  means  as  are  right  and  proper.  But 
without  these  means  we  cannot.  And  that  according 
to  my  judgment,  no  one  else  likely  to  arise,  is  as  likely 
to  receive  support  here  as  you  are.     I  have  only  to  add, 

263 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

if  I  am  mistaken  as  to  what  may  be  your  views,  my 
good  will  must  excuse  this  intrusion  on  you  and  you 
will  burn  this  letter;  but  if  not  mistaken,  you  may  rely 
on  me  for  frank  information  and  all  the  little  service  I 
can  render. 

"Yours  respectfully, 

"David  R.  Williams." 

The  references  to  prominent  men  in  the  letter  quoted 
show  that  the  time  had  not  arrived  for  a  definite  classi- 
fication of  individuals  in  their  party  affiliations.  The 
eloquent  W.  C.  Preston,  of  whom  he  had  an  exalted 
opinion,  had  already,  if  the  Spy  of  Columbia  is  good 
authority,  aligned  himself  with  the  progressives.  "Poor 
Sims  of  the  Telescope  and  his  aids,"  said  the  Spyy  re- 
puted to  have  been  Professor  Henry  who  later  aban- 
doned the  nullifiers,  "were  about  the  same  time  (1829) 
brought  over  to  their  service  by  fair  promises  of  thrift, 
to  aid  their  course,  which  was  then  too  slow  in  its  prog- 
ress. But  he  not  having  courage  enough  for  a  bravo 
was  soon  paid  his  wages,  dismissed  the  service  and  his 
press  transferred  to  the  estate  of  Col.  Preston  &  Co. 
What  was  the  conduct  of  the  Telescope  about  that  time? 
The  influential  men  of  the  Union  Party  were  slandered, 
vilified,  abused  and  black-guarded  without  mercy  or 
the  least  ceremony."  Preston  afterward  broke  with 
Calhoun  as  Labienus  did  with  Caesar  and  with  fortunes 
somewhat  paralleled.  Miller,  whom  he  never  deserted, 
went  the  same  way,  having  developed  gradually  and 
normally.  Poinsett,  Minister  to  Mexico,  was  probably 
on  his  way  to  Charleston  at  the  time,  having  been  re- 
lieved by  an  under  officer,  Colonel  Butler.  Poinsett 
had  become  unpopular  with  the  Church  in  Mexico  and 

264 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

also  had  offended  by  the  introduction  of  Masonry  into 
the  country.  President  Jackson  advised,  because  of 
Poinsett's  influential  enemies  in  Mexico,  that  "Mr. 
Poinsett  with  his  secretary  be  invited  home,  in  such  a 
way  as  will  preserve  his  feelings  and  give  no  cause  for 
exultation  by  this  minority  (in  Mexico)  or  his  enemies. " 
On  his  return  to  Charleston  he  spoke  and  wrote  against 
nullification  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  legislature 
in  1830.  It  is  said  that  he  was  authorized  by  Jackson 
to  obtain  arms  and  ammunition  from  the  government 
supplies  in  Charleston  harbor,  for  the  use  of  the  Union 
military  companies.  Governor  Middleton  was  relieved 
August  3, 1830,  from  his  foreign  post,  spent  the  summer  of 
1831  in  Greenville,  and  in  1832  was  elected  to  represent 
that  district  in  the  nullification  convention  (Perry) 
where  he  joined  forces  with  General  Williams'  son  and 
successor  in  support  of  the  Union  cause.  About  Sena- 
tor Smith,  he  made  no  erroneous  inferences;  but  after 
his  defeat,  he  left  the  state,  disgusted  perhaps  not  less 
with  the  conduct  of  a  few  of  his  former  friends  than 
displeased  with  the  tactics  of  the  Calhounites.  Fate 
was  hard  with  him  in  politics  but  kinder  in  reference  to 
the  choice  of  a  wife  and  the  accumulation  of  property. 
Jackson's  offer  of  judicial  honors  to  him  in  another 
state  was  a  late  recognition  of  his  services  and  its  dec- 
lination stands  as  a  witness  to  the  strong-willed  in- 
efficiency seated  in  the  White  House.  Smith  was  the 
reputed  owner  of  fine  plantations  and  about  eight  hun- 
dred slaves  when  Charon  summoned  him  into  the  boat. 
The  Union  leader  in  Greenville  district  was  only  23 
years  old,  but  he  had  seen  enough  not  to  be  surprised  at 
anything  that  happened.  His  thoughts  on  this  sub- 
ject were  put  in  the  Mountaineer  in  September,  1830: 

265 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

"It  often  happens  that  a  man  who  pursues  a  steady 
course  through  life,  will  at  different  times  see  the  same 
person  first  a  long  way  behind  him  and  then  greatly  in 
advance.  Just  so  it  has  been  on  the  tariff  question. 
We  now  see  many  persons  at  least  five  years  ahead  of 
us  on  the  subject,  who  were  some  time  since,  more  than 
ten  years  behind  us.  In  1824,  we  first  began  to  form 
our  opinion  about  this  matter.  We  set  our  face  against 
the  tariff  and  denounced  it  in  private  conversation  and 
in  public  societies.  In  1826,  we  expressed  our  decided 
opposition  to  it.  In  1828,  we  pronounced  it  contrary 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  highly  oppressive  on 
the  Southern  country  and  entered  into  resolutions  of 
non-consumption.  During  all  this  time,  some  of  our 
friends  who  are  now  running  far  ahead  of  us  were  either 
advocating  the  policy  and  constitutionality  of  the  pro- 
tective system,  or  they  were  maintaining  a  profound 
silence  on  the  subject.  They  then  believed  the  tariff 
cheapened  articles  of  domestic  manufacture  and  that 
it  was  highly  improper  for  the  people  to  be  holding  anti- 
tariff  meetings,  catching  unnecessary  excitement.  But 
those  persons  who  then  believed  it  wrong  for  the  people 
to  be  informed  of  their  oppressions  at  public  meetings, 
now  think  the  same  people  should  meet  in  convention 
and  say  what  is  to  be  done.  In  1828,  it  was  improper 
that  the  people  should  oppose  the  tariff  by  non-con- 
sumption or  petition  the  government  for  a  redress  of 
their  grievances  or  even  be  informed  on  the  subject. 
But  in  1830,  it  is  all  important  that  the  people  should 
meet  without  delay  and  declare  whether  they  will 
submit,  like  cowards,  or  right  themselves  as  freemen. " 
Such  and  similar  experiences  were  the  lot  of  the  steady- 
going  men  all  over  the  state.     Calhoun's  toast  in  July 

266 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

showed  that  he  too  saw  men  moving  in  several  direc- 
tions: "Consolidation  and  disunion — The  two  extremes 
of  our  system:  they  are  both  equally  dangerous,  and 
ought  both  to  be  equally  the  object  of  our  apprehen- 
sion."    Some  unknown  person  in  a  toast  exhibited,  in 
the  midst  of  the  general  excitement,  analytical  genius: 
"The  Tariff — Born  in  generosity,  baptized  in  avarice, 
and  reared  by  an  amalgamation  of  heterogeneous  inter- 
ests, we  fear  its  death  cannot  be  natural;  whilst  it  lives, 
it  continually  accumulates  over  us,  fearful  masses,  of 
combustible  material."      The  voice  of  McDuffie  was 
heard  in  Abbeville  district  uttering  hard  and  melan- 
choly truths  in  a  train  of  reasoning  that  appeared  to 
his  hearers  unanswerable:  "We  are  in  effect  slaves,  and 
that  the  Northern  manufacturers  are  our  masters;  and 
that  we  acted  in  the  capacity  of  overseers  for  our  north- 
ern brethren  and  that  they  really  share  a  greater  profit 
from  the  production  of  our  labor  than  we  do  ourselves. " 
The  attitude  of  General  Williams  on  this  juncture  when 
the  legislators  to  be  chosen  should  decide  about  the  call 
of  a  Convention  is  also  at  hand :  "  I  am  for  preventing  all 
irascibility  among  ourselves;  to  treat  the  resentment 
and  even  violence  of  others,  not  only  with  gentleness 
but  respect.     I  am  willing  those  who  have  resented 
loudest  and  highest  shall  be  permitted  to  take  any 
course  they  please  that  will  allow  their  courage  to  ooze 
out  of  their  fingers'  ends  most  agreeably  to  themselves; 
but  with  this  understanding,  they  have  reproved  and 
scolded  long  enough.     It  has  become  too  serious  to 
keep  up  the  quarrel,  'tis  time  for  moderation  and  reason. 
In  short  and  plainly,  I  am  for  peace,  under  any  existing 
state  of  things  that,  I  think  likely  to  arise,  rather  than 
civil  war. " 

267 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

In  midsummer  an  anonymous  writer  in  Charleston 
wrote  to  a  daily:  "I  was  delighted  to  see  in  your  paper 
of  Saturday,  General  Williams  indicated  as  a  candidate 
for  chief  magistrate  at  the  next  election.  How  gratify- 
ing will  it  be  to  the  people  of  (South)  Carolina  to  have 
him  at  this  crisis,  in  the  chair  of  state.  His  manly 
patriotism,  his  attachment  to  state  rights,  his  fearless 
independence,  all  point  him  out  as  the  most  eligible 
citizen  for  that  high  station.  I  know  but  one  other  who 
could  divide  the  public  sentiment;  I  need  not  say  it  is 
that  distinguished  citizen,  who  when  Carolina,  during 
the  last  war,  resolved  on  raising  a  brigade  of  State 
troops,  elected  him  to  be  commander  of  it.  These  two 
patriots  will  not  stand  in  the  way  of  each  other.  They 
have  but  one  object — the  public  good.  We  must  have 
a  calm,  reflecting  temperate  governor  who  'under  the 
right  to  fight,'  will  take  care  that  the  rights  of  the  State 
are  not  invaded  nor  those  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States  usurped."  "Under  the  right  to  fight," 
was  a  quotation  from  Stephen  D.  Miller's  toast:  "The 
right  to  fight — the  only  law  of  nations  worth  preserv- 
ing. 

"A  native  Carolinian"  followed  up  the  preceding  with  : 
".  .  .  If  there  is  a  citizen  who,  by  the  moral  in- 
fluence of  character,  can  restore  harmony  to  the  union, 
in  whose  support  all  parties,  having  in  view  the  true 
interests  of  the  Country,  would  unite  and  who  would 
command  the  confidence  of  the  people — that  citizen  is 
General  Williams.  To  him  are  our  hopes  and  anx- 
ious anticipations  directed.  Let  this  second  call  of  his 
country  be  made  from  every  section,  decisive,  loud  and 
unequivocal — let  it  be  made  from  the  people,  for  the 
maintenance  of  those  principles  which  are  interwoven 

268 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

in  our  political  institutions  and  which  form  the  basis 
of  our  union.  A  voice  so  expressed  will  not  be  diso- 
beyed— a  claim  upon  his  patriotism  will  not  be  disre- 
garded. To  him  let  us  entrust  the  helm  of  state;  and 
under  his  guidance  all  shall  be  well  again." 

The  Couriers  containing  this  call  for  him  to  come  to 
the  rescue  of  the  ship  of  state  were  handed  him  by  a 
neighbor.  He  had  been  wilted,  completely  prostrated 
and  in  a  state  of  lassitude  consequent  upon  bleeding 
and  physicking,  "having  been  severely  shocked  in  the 
upper  region."  He  did  not  feel  complimented  when  he 
awoke  to  the  fact  that  he  was  drifting  apart  from  his 
friends  and  being  praised  by  his  enemies.  "What  have 
I  done  that  my  enemies  praise  me?"  was  his  solemn  self- 
inquiry.  He  had  already  been  requested  by  letters  to 
go  to  the  legislature,  just  as  Judge  Huger  and  Pettigru 
were  trying  to  do,  to  thwart  the  calling  of  a  Convention ; 
and  he  was  also  requested  to  come  out  for  Governor; 
but  having  no  appetite  for  political  honors,  he  sent  his 
refusal.  He  had  many  reasons  for  declining  such 
honors,  not  the  least  among  them  being  the  difficulty  of 
sailing  under  his  own  colors  in  a  motley  constituency. 

He  had  now  reached  that  point  where  he  ceased  to 
fear  for  the  Union,  but  he  apprehended  that  the  char- 
acter of  the  state  would  suffer.  Under  this  impression 
he  wrote  to  Gov.  Miller  (August  11):  "I  sincerely  hope 
the  state  right  dinner,  to  be  eaten  at  Sumter,  will  mani- 
fest much  less  of  downright  madness,  than  that  of 
Charleston.  If  it  shall  indicate  half  the  same  sort  of 
violence  and  insanity,  it  will  probably  put  every  moder- 
ate man  in  the  State  electioneering.  I  am  deeply 
interested  that  this  shall  not  be,  for  the  applications 
that  have  been  and  continue  to  be  made  to  me,  about 

269 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

the  executive  office,  will,  I  fear,  in  that  event,  be  much 
more  serious.  You  will  pardon  this  seeming  vanity 
which,  in  truth,  is  not  such.  I  wish  you  should  clearly 
and  fully  believe  that  I  have  no  disposition  to  commence 
another  crusade  against  all  my  wishes  and  interests, 
and  am  utterly  too  little  of  a  salamander  to  take  pleas- 
ure in  the  fiery  ordeal  through  which  every  man  must 
pass,  not  absolutely  a  cipher,  who,  enters  upon  the 
public  service.  I  understand  I  am  held  up  as  a  candi- 
date in  some  papers,  do  not  I  pray  you,  believe  for  a 
single  moment  that,  I  am  such.  I  think  I  never  will 
be  again  under  any  circumstances;  nor  again  enter 
public  life.  No  man  of  correct  principles  can  say  he 
never  will;  because,  under  emergencies,  a  well  ordered 
mind  must  feel  that  the  public  are  not  to  be  refused, 
when  a  necessity  exists.  No  such  thing  does  now,  nor 
can,  so  far  as  my  poor  self  is  concerned.  I  therefore 
hope  you  will  be  very  explicit,  if  chance  throws  this 
matter  into  conversation,  where  you  may  happen  to 
be.  In  God's  truth,  I  had  as  lieve  succeed  Preston  in  a 
speech  as  you  in  the  Executive  office.  I  have  no  other 
way  to  make  myself  understood,  but  through  my 
friends. " 

In  reference  to  Miller's  Sumter  speech,  General 
Williams  said  to  him,  "if  I  had  been  at  your  elbow  I 
would  have  asked  you  to  suppress  two  ideas  which  I 
see  in  it;  and  it  is  not  impossible  that,  the  first  friend 
you  might  have  met  afterwards  would  have  insisted  for 
the  retention  of  those  very  portions  of  it." 

Within  one  month  of  his  death,  November  17,  1830, 
General  Williams  wrote  two  letters  which  explain  his 
position  in  politics  and  why  he  declined  to  be  a  candi- 
date against  James  Hamilton  or  any  other  person  for 

270 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

the  Chief  Magistracy.     The  first  one  was  written  to 
Governor  Miller: 

"You  are  not  more  opposed  to  the  tariff  than  I  am; 
the  only  difference  is  how  shall  we  resist  it.  It  is  clear 
to  my  understanding  that  the  vital  interest  of  the  whole 
Southern  country  has  been  staken  on  a  system  of  federal 
legislation,  unwise  in  policy,  unjust  in  action  and  at  war 
with  the  principles  of  the  Constitution.  Its  progress 
has  been  slow  but  as  steady  as  time  and  will  be,  if  per- 
sisted in,  as  fatal  as  death.  But  it  is  the  whole  system, 
not  a  particular  part  of  it  that  excites  my  abhorrence, 
and  merits  the  deepest  censure.  That  system  is  made 
up  of  the  original  sin  of  the  Federal  government,  the 
bank  of  the  United  States;  the  imposition  of  high  duties 
for  the  protection  of  manufacturers,  and  the  squander- 
ing of  those  duties  in  the  form  of  internal  improvements, 
committing  the  faith  of  the  government,  on  a  scale  of 
extravagance  which  all  the  revenues  of  the  civilized 
world  cannot  sustain.  When  you  add  to  these,  the 
mortifying  and  ruinous  fact  that,  the  central  govern- 
ment takes  all  it  can  from  us  and  returns  nothing  back, 
you  have  the  story  of  some  of  our  wrongs  that  every 
son  of  Carolina,  not  a  bastard,  must  be  anxious  to 
relieve  her  from.  But  bad  as  all  this  is,  they  are  better 
than  dissension  and  civil  war.  Do  not  imagine  that  I 
think  Major  Hamilton,  General  Hayne,  Mr.  McDuffie 
or  Governor  Miller  could  design  such  an  issue  a  moment 
sooner  than  myself;  or,  look  with  the  slightest  possible 
favor  on  such  intent.  ...  It  is,  however,  my  mis- 
fortune to  differ  from  these  gentlemen,  not  concerning 
our  wrongs,  but  how  we  shall  get  rid  of  them.  I  think 
the  heat  that  has  been  manifested  is  too  great  to  last. 

271 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

I  fear  that  violence  may  bring  our  doctrine  into  dis- 
repute. I  believe  nullification  will  lead  to  conflict  with 
the  General  Government.  As  to  convention,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  objections  that  have  been  urged,  I  feel  forci- 
bly one  which  I  have  not  seen  argued.  No  man  can 
assign  limits  to  the  reaction  which  the  excitement  of 
the  public  mind  has  caused.  Suppose  the  convention 
called  and  it  shall  decide  contrary  to  the  doctrine  as- 
serted by  the  legislature,  what  becomes  of  opposition 
to  the  tariff  and  the  whole  vile  system?  Will  it  not 
suffer  a  total  parallisis  from  that  moment?  But  you 
may  ask,  if  opposed  to  all  these  measures  will  I  fold 
my  arms  and  submit?  Not  certainly  before  the  'argu- 
ment is  exhausted.'  I  am  determined  with  Governor 
Miller  to  '  keep  the  head  of  my  canoe  against  the  stream 
of  consolidation'  as  long  as  it  runs.  The  sublimest 
political  sentiment  I  ever  read  was  uttered  in  these 
words,  'error  of  opinion  may  be  tolerated,  while  reason 
is  left  free  to  combat  it.'  This  lies  at  the  bottom  of 
all  our  institutions.  Our  governments  are  founded  on 
reason  and  it  therefore  is  a  fit  and  rightful  remedy.  The 
people,  I  believe,  are  competent  to  self-government, 
that  is,  good  government.  When  they  (I  mean  the 
people  of  the  United  States)  discover  injustice,  they 
will  remove  it.  In  this  I  feel  a  perfect  confidence.  But 
if  the  people  of  South  Carolina  feel  that  their  wrongs 
are  intolerable,  and  will  not  wait  this  progress,  altho 
it  has  clearly  commenced,  surely  there  are  other  meas- 
ures still  in  reserve,  without  rushing  into  those  that  are 
alike  miserable  and  ruinous.  Where  are  the  other 
Southern  States?  Certainly  not  blotted  from  our  sys- 
tem, nor  suffering  less  than  we  are.  It  appears  to  me 
that  no  well  ordered  mind  will  seek  to  commit  South 

272 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Carolina  alone,  with  the  general  government.  Let  the 
Legislature  then  at  its  next  meeting  commence  the  task 
of  concert  and  cooperation.  Let  it  forbear  all  further 
abstract  declarations  about  our  wrongs  and  our  rights, 
but  go  practically  to  work.  Open  communications 
with  the  states  interested.  Ascertain  definitely  to  what 
extent  and  how  they  will  cooperate.  If  they  will  do 
anything  in  conjunction,  be  it  what  it  may,  there  is 
hope;  but  if  they  will  do  nothing,  then  indeed  is  our 
case  most  serious,  but  not  more  ours  than  theirs.  In 
that  event  we  shall  be  thrown  back  for  redress  on  the 
whole  people  of  the  United  States,  a  recourse  which,  in 
my  poor  opinion,  ought  first  to  be  tried;  for  although 
we  may  bury  ourselves  in  the  ruins  of  our  country, 
South  Carolina  alone  can  use  no  means  of  forcible  re- 
sistance less  burthensome  than  the  evils  now  inflicted 
on  her. 

"'The  reign  of  Terror'  of  the  elder  Adams  made  me  a 
republican;  a  term,  according  to  my  understanding, 
convertible  with  state  rights  and  radicals.  During  an 
alarming  period  of  the  last  war  I  had  an  opportunity 
of  manifesting  altho  only  a  few  personal  friends  and  the 
then  administration  of  the  General  Government  knew 
it,  how  serious  and  abiding  were  the  doctrines  of  state 
rights,  so  embraced  by  me.  The  subsequent  and  sys- 
tematic encroachments  of  that  government  on  the  con- 
stitution have  confirmed  my  early  principles  yet  more 
firmly,  and  therefore  have  I  most  heartily  expounded 
the  state  right  doctrines,  promulgated  by  the  Legisla- 
ture. From  a  cause  in  which  my  mind  has  been  thus 
long  settled,  I  shall  not  be  easily  diverted.  You  tell 
me  that  Major  Hamilton  is  willing  to  consider  me  a 
candidate  in  the  field,  brought  out  against  him  on  prin- 

273 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

ciple.  I  have  held  communications  with  no  man  on 
that  subject,  but  to  express  my  decided  refusal.  I 
shun  public  life  with  the  utmost  solicitude  and  espe- 
cially the  executive  office.  I  am  not  a  candidate  nor 
can  any  circumstances  make  me  one.  This  declaration 
seems  a  matter  of  equal  indifference  to  my  friends  and 
to  their  opponents.  I  receive  cold  and  freezing  looks 
from  one,  and  shameless  abuse  from  the  other.  I  have 
been  denounced  as  a  friend  to  the  tariff,  a  submission 
man,  and  a  Tory.  As  I  cannot  be  enticed  from  my 
convictions,  so  neither  will  I  be  driven  from  them;  and 
in  no  account  will  I  fight  under  any  colours  but  of  my 
own  choosing.  The  sole  satisfaction  which  public  life 
has  heretofore  yielded  me,  is  an  introduction  to  the 
friendship  and  esteem  of  Macon,  Crawford,  Smith  and 
Miller,  while  these  and  a  few  others,  tho'  less  in  the 
public  eye,  not  less  in  my  heart,  kindly  tolerate  my  in- 
firmities, I  will  not  retort  an  angry  word  on  those  who 
have  applied  hard  terms  to  me  wholly  without  provo- 
cation on  my  part.  All  I  now  seek  is  practical  useful- 
ness to  the  state  and  my  family;  and  that,  when  I  am 
gone,  it  may  be  said  of  me,  he  never  deserted  a  friend 
or  injured  a  neighbour. 

"Stephen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  Gov.  Sz  Com.  in  Chief  etc., 
near  Camden,  S.  C. 
"  Society  Hill,  Oct.  19." 

On  the  same  day  that  his  principles  were  set  forth 
he  gave  his  final  and  definite  refusal  to  be  a  candidate. 
Edgefield  citizens  had  seconded  the  call  for  General 
Williams,  and  a  letter  persuading  him  to  allow  his  name 
to  be  used  by  his  friends  for  the  governorship  came  from 
his  partner  and  friend,  Col.  Chesnut: 

274 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

"In  the  few  hints  you  have  dropped,  concerning  my 
yielding  to  the  wishes  of  my  best  friends,  there  is  so 
much  of  earnestness  I  very  much  fear,  it  may  in  truth 
have  reached  to  others,  as  well  as  to  you  that,  I  ought 
to  be  the  next  governor.  I  can  more  easily  resist  it 
at  a  distance  than  in  close  contact  with  my  friends. 
This  matter  has  been  very  seriously  considered — there 
is  not  a  single  circumstance  in  my  opinion  which 
prompts  me  to  yield,  while  thousands  upon  thousands 
urge  to  the  reverse.  Putting  my  own  wishes  out  of 
the  case,  I  fear  I  should  in  so  yielding  raise  in  my  own 
mind,  when  too  late  to  repent  a  cause,  not  only  of  re- 
gret, but  of  self-reproach.  When  I  induced  you  gentle- 
men to  hazard  your  money  in  the  Factory,  altho'  I 
entered  into  no  obligation  for  personal  attention,  I  am 
as  certain  as  tho'  I  did,  that  you  all  consented  under  a 
belief  that,  I  would  give  it,  to  the  full  extent  that  was 
necessary.  I  know  without  that  belief,  neither  of  you 
would  have  thought  of  it,  for  more  than  an  instant.  If 
I  suffer  myself  to  be  drawn  from  home,  it  will  be  best  at 
once  to  put  fire  to  the  whole  rather  than  waste  the  earn- 
ings of  our  industry  on  it.  You  owners  are  urging  this 
thing  on  me,  but  altho'  you  might  acquit  me  of  backing 
out,  my  mind  I  fear  would  never  after  feel  reconciled. 
Is  it  worth  while,  then,  in  me  to  suffer  any  consideration 
to  entice  me  to  such  a  state  of  reflection?  Your  fine 
sentiments  of  honor  can  give  but  one  answer.  Then  my 
dear  Chesnut,  let  this  affair  of  the  next  governor  be, 
from  this  moment,  never  renewed  between  us." 

His  death  occurred  in  the  midst  of  this  campaign. 
His  policy,  however,  was  continued  by  his  son  Nicholas 
who  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  in  which  body  a 
speech  by  him  against  calling  a  convention  was  circu- 

275 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

lated  as  an  able  document.  The  issue  of  Nullification 
is  well  known  and  the  views  about  its  wisdom  or  unwis- 
dom sharply  divided  the  people  in  the  state.  The  dif- 
ference between  Calhoun  and  General  Williams  was 
reduced  to  the  single  point  of  how  best  to  resist  federal 
usurpation.  Williams  wanted  to  withdraw  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  predatory  law,  not  from  the  Union;  Cal- 
houn wanted  to  "slow  down"  the  government  machine, 
examine  and  correct  its  defects,  make  compromises  by 
which  peace  and  justice  might  be  secured  within  the 
Union.  It  is  said  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica 
that  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper,  Professor  in  the  South  Caro- 
lina College,  "preceded  Calhoun  in  advocating  a  prac- 
tical application  of  the  State  sovereignty  principle." 
Calhoun  was  familiar  with  the  nullification  principles 
as  applied  by  the  Ephors  at  Sparta,  the  Tribunes  at 
Rome,  and  with  its  widest  application  in  Poland;  but  he 
based  his  Nullification  on  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia 
resolutions  brought  out  by  the  Adams  administration. 
The  government  was  not  yet  fifty  years  old,  and  it  was 
not  unpatriotic  to  strive  to  engraft  in  the  working 
machinery  of  the  government  a  power  somewhere  which 
is  yet  a  desideratum  to  check  a  fierce  majority;  but  it 
presupposed  a  patriotism  in  his  adversaries  that  is 
never  found  in  a  majority,  a  willingness  to  resign  volun- 
tarily its  own  advantage  in  favor  of  the  weaker  party. 
General  Williams  was  six  years  older  than  Mr.  Cal- 
houn, and  the  latter  served  in  the  general  government 
more  than  three  times  longer  than  the  former  and  sur- 
vived him  about  twenty  years.  They  were  both  born 
in  the  country  and  became  agricultural  statesmen. 
Both  were  reared  in  pious  families  which  were  able  to 
send  them  to  Northern  colleges  for  their  higher  educa- 

276 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

tion.     They  were  church  goers  and  reverent  men,  but 
neither  ever  became  a  communicant. 

Both  of  our  statesmen  were  men  of  spotless  character 
and  passed  through  trying  scenes  like  gold  seven  times 
purified.  General  Williams  was  warm  hearted,  cour- 
teous, strong  in  his  power  of  analysis  and  synthesis, 
wiser  than  Calhoun  perhaps  in  reading  men,  and  not 
less  strenuous  in  digging  down  to  the  naked  truth; 
eloquent,  patriotic,  and  rounded  out  in  other  elements  of 
true  greatness.  He  cut  short  his  political  career  to 
apply  himself  to  plantation  improvements,  and  having 
spent  his  ripest  years  in  devotement  to  agricultural  and 
manufacturing  interests,  he  passed  away  and  passed 
out  of  the  public  mind.  Calhoun  was  intellect  incar- 
nate, lucid,  invincible  in  discourse.  His  life  was  spent 
in  the  public  eye  and  his  death  was  spectacular  and 
his  funeral  obsequies  were  second  only  say  to  Wash- 
ington's. Both  General  Williams  and  Senator  Calhoun 
represented  minorities  and  both  of  them  were  prophets. 
All  prophets  are  out  of  the  swim;  they  stand  on  the 
bank  and  see  things  as  they  are  and  are  unheeded.  Cal- 
houn foresaw  what  the  Abolitionists  would  do,  even  to 
the  arming  of  the  slaves  with  the  right  of  suffrage; 
and  Williams  saw  what  would  be  the  end  of  the  unprof- 
itable strife  to  do  each  other  the  most  harm.  Each 
had  his  enemies  and  misinterpreters.  Williams'  plain 
and  correct  statement  about  majority  rule  and  Cal- 
houn's opinion  about  cotton  factories  in  the  state,  for 
example,  were  both  misinterpreted,*  as  if  a  sentence, 

*The  following  extracts  taken  from  Gregg's  pamphlet,  1845,  in  the  possession  of  Mr. 
August  Kohn,  probably  came  under  the  eye  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  but,  as  usual,  he  opened 
not  his  mouth: 

"Even  Mr.  Calhoun,  our  great  oracle — a  statesman  whose  purity  of  character  we 
all  revere — whose  elevation  to  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people  of  the  United 

277 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

a  thought,  could  be  treated  justly  apart  from  a  man's 
whole  life  and  conduct.  But  Calhoun  being  in  public 
life,  was  the  most  thoroughly  hated  as  well  as  the 
most  thoroughly  trusted  man  in  the  nation.  But 
Providence  was  kind  to  him  in  one  respect.  After  all 
the  agencies,  including  Von  Hoist's  biography,  had 
done  their  utmost,  Calhoun's  voluminous  correspond- 
ence was  printed  in  1899  and  it  at  once  rendered  anti- 
quated many  effusions  of  his  critics,  and  placed  him 
back  upon  his  own  pedestal.  Daniel  Webster,  whom 
Calhoun  pronounced  on  his  deathbed  the  fairest  antago- 
nist he  ever  contended  with,  became  unpopular  and 
died  almost  broken-hearted  and  deserted  by  New  Eng- 
land. He  had  been  a  poor  manager  and  had  been 
financed  in  his  latter  years  by  manufacturers.  (Lodge.) 
Henry  Clay  in  his  old  age  was  so  deep  in  debt  that  it 
was  a  heavy  burden  to  keep  the  interest  paid  up.  He 
was  surprised  at  last  when  his  creditor  told  him  that 
his  obligations  had  been  cancelled  by  friends  who  were 
so  discreet  that  Clay  never  found  out  who  they  were. 
(Wentworth.)  Calhoun  owed  something  less  than 
$40,000  at  the  time  of  his  death  but  was  not  bankrupt. 
When  his  health  began  to  fail,  his  friends  in  Charleston 

States  would  enlist  the  undivided  vote  of  South  Carolina — even  he  is  against  us  in  this 
matter;  he  will  tell  you  that  no  mechanical  enterprise  will  succeed  in  South  Carolina — 
that  good  mechanics  will  go  where  their  talents  are  better  rewarded — that  to  thrive 
in  cotton  spinning  one  should  go  to  Rhode  Island — that  to  undertake  it  here,  will  not 
only  lead  to  loss  of  capital,  but  disappointment  and  ruin  to  those  who  engage  in  it." 
.  .  .  "There  are  those  who  understand  some  things  as  well,  if  not  better,  than 
other  people,  who  have  taken  the  pains  to  give  this  subject  a  thorough  investigation 
and  who  could  probably  give,  even  Mr.  Calhoun  a  practical  lesson  concerning  it.  The 
known  zeal  with  which  this  distinguished  gentleman  has  always  engaged  in  everything 
relating  to  the  interest  of  South  Carolina,  forbids  the  idea  that  he  is  not  a  friend  to 
domestic  manufacturers,  fairly  brought  about;  and  knowing,  as  he  must  know,  the 
influence  which  he  exerts,  he  should  be  more  guarded  in  expressing  opinions  adverse 
to  so  good  a  cause." 

278 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

gathered  a  sum  of  money  to  buy  or  lease  a  yacht  in 
order  that  the  honored  senator  might  rest  and  recuper- 
ate in  a  sea  voyage.  His  death  having  occurred  earlier 
than  was  expected,  the  $40,000  was  used  by  the  con- 
tributors to  extinguish  the  debt  which  would  have 
swallowed  up  a  large  part  of  the  estate.     (Simpson.) 

General  Williams  lived  fifty-four  years  and  packed  in 
that  fleeting  period  a  century  of  achievements  which 
have  been  already  imperfectly  narrated;  and  in  addi- 
tion he  accumulated  and  left  a  property  for  his  children, 
abundant  and  unencumbered,  and  a  name  above  any- 
thing that  is  sordid,  selfish,  unpatriotic,  sinister,  or 
crooked.  He  never  deserted  a  friend  or  injured  a  neigh- 
bor. 

Sources:  The  Records  of  the  State  Senate,  Perry's 
Reminiscences,  The  Spy  of  Columbia,  Calhoun's  Let- 
ters, Landrum's  History  of  Spartanburg,  Wentworth's 
Congressional  Reminiscences,  Jervey's  Robert  Y. 
Hayne,  General  Williams'  Letters  and  Articles,  the 
Mountaineer  of  Greenville,  the  Courier,  Mercury,  and 
City  Gazette  of  Charleston,  1827-1830;  Articles  by 
Colonel  R.  W.  Simpson,  Attorney  for  Thomas  Clemson, 
son-in-law  of  John  C.  Calhoun. 


279 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

HIS    DEATH    AND    BURIAL 

ON  THE  17th  of  October,  1830,  General  Wil- 
liams wrote  to  his  friend  Colonel  Chesnut  as 
follows:  "I  am  going  to  Lynch's  Creek  to- 
morrow to  arrange  for  commencing  to  raise  the  bridge. 
I  shall  be  there  only  a  few  hours,  it  being  still  impru- 
dent, altho*  I  think  quite  safe  to  stay  there.  I  hope  it 
will  suit  you  to  spare  me  some  carpenters.  I  design  to 
begin  work  as  nearly  after  the  1st  of  November  as 
possible.  I  have  imagined  as  my  fields  abound  in 
pumpkins  and  peas,  it  may  be  quite  as  agreeable  to  you 
to  lend  your  carpenters  a  poor  mule  and  cart,  as  for  me 
to  send  out  for  them;  if  so  I  shall  only  have  to  write 
when  I  want  them  which  I  will  do  immediately  after 
my  return  from  the  Creek." 

It  was  in  the  Indian  summer  period  of  the  year  when 
the  bulk  of  the  crops  had  been  gathered,  early  in  No- 
vember, that  General  Williams  collected  his  teams  and 
hands  at  Witherspoon  Ferry,  some  fifty  miles  distant. 
There  he  cut  the  timber,  hauled  it  to  the  spot,  and  had 
already  begun  to  extend  the  framework  of  the  bridge 
he  came  to  build  over  the  stream.  While  under  the 
bridge,  a  heavy  log  fell  upon  him  and  crushed  both  legs 
below  the  knee  and  wounded  unto  death  two  of  the 
men.     One  version  of  the  fatal  accident  represents  the 

280 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

negro  axeman  as  remonstrating  but  nevertheless  obe- 
dient when  commanded  to  knock  out  the  prop  no  longer 
thought  to  be  necessary.  (DuBose.)  Another  was 
that  "a  massive  piece  of  timber  escaped  unexpectedly 
from  the  position  in  which  it  had  been  placed,  and 
falling  upon  a  part  of  his  body,  crushed  him  (Corre- 
spondent of  the  Christian  Index  who  had  gotten  Mrs. 
Williams'  account).  The  third  version  agrees  with  the 
second,  "some  portion  of  the  timber,  accidentally  fell 
upon  him,  while  in  the  act  of  giving  directions,  brake 
both  legs,  etc. "  The  excruciating  shock  did  not  cause 
the  sufferer  to  lose  his  presence  of  mind;  his  thought 
was  for  his  injured  servants  whom  he  had  cared  for 
first.  Another,  at  his  command,  took  out  a  lancet 
from  his  pocket  and  bled  him.  Daddy  Smart  was  sent 
with  a  message  to  the  family  (Furman)  over  a  distance 
which  would  require  all  night  and  an  hour  or  two  of 
daylight  to  accomplish  it.  In  the  meantime,  while 
these  hours  were  being  spent  on  the  road,  there  were 
troubled  dreams  at  "the  Factory,"  which  were  recorded 
and  handed  down  by  men  of  good  repute.  One  of 
them  rests  upon  the  authority  of  James  C.  Furman, 
who  was  four  years  after  the  event  a  guest  for  ten 
months  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Williams.  It  is 
found  in  the  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Welsh  Neck 
Church,  1888,  and  is  told  as  coming  direct  from  her: 
"On  a  given  morning  (Nov.  18,  1830)  at  the  breakfast 
table,  Mrs.  Williams  stated  she  had  a  very  vivid  dream 
the  night  before.  She  had  dreamed  that  a  special 
messenger,  Smart,  one  of  the  General's  favorite  serv- 
ants, riding  'the  clay-bank  mare,'  one  of  the  numerous 
animals  taken  to  the  scene  of  labor,  had  brought  word 
that  General  Williams  was  fatally  injured.     The  table 

281 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

having  been  cleared  away,  Mrs.  Williams  took  her  seat 
as  usual  and  opened  the  volume  before  her,  when  the 
noise  of  the  opening  of  a  gate  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
lawn  attracted  her  attention,  and  sure  enough  there  was 
Smart  riding  the  clay-bank  mare.  Powerfully  im- 
pressed by  the  strange  coincidence,  she  cast  her  eyes 
upon  the  volume  before  her  and  read  the  words,  'Be 
still  and  know  that  I  am  God.'  Just  then  and  there, 
as  she  subsequently  averred,  did  she  bow  herself  abso- 
lutely to  the  righteous  sovereignty  of  God.  In  the 
exercise  of  an  unqualified  submission,  she  accepted 
Christ  as  of  God  made  unto  wisdom  and  righteousness 
and  sanctification  and  redemption.  Thus  in  an  hour 
of  deepest  darkness,  light  sprang  up.  The  messenger 
had  brought  word  that  General  Williams,  though  badly 
crushed  by  fallen  timbers,  was  still  alive,  and  Mrs.  W., 
accompanied  by  the  accomplished  and  skillful  physi- 
cian, Dr.  Thomas  Smith,  was  soon  on  the  way  to  the 
scene  of  the  disaster.  May  I  mention,  by  the  way, 
that  General  W.  would  not  allow  a  thing  to  be  done  for 
his  own  relief  until  the  servants  who  were  injured  had 
been  first  attended  to.  He  blamed  himself  for  an  un- 
necessary risk,  in  raising  heavy  timbers,  involving 
danger  to  others,  as  well  as  to  himself,  and  then  he  was 
a  fine  example  of  a  type  of  character  which  the  patriar- 
chal form  of  Southern  society  tended  to  nourish — a  just, 
generous,  noble  care  for  the  well-being  of  dependents. " 
The  other  dream  was  related  by  his  grandson,  David 
R.  Williams,  son  of  J.  N.  Williams,  and  is  found  in 
"The  Williams  Family  of  Society  Hill":  "He  was  then 
a  boy  of  eight,  and  his  mother  being  dead,  he  was  living 
in  his  grandfather's  house.  On  the  night  following  the 
accident,  he  had  a  vivid  dream,  in  which  he  saw  his 

282 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

grandfather,  evidently  injured,  being  brought  home  on 
the  big  blue  wagon  driven  by  Daddy  Smart.  So  vivid 
and  terrifying  was  the  dream  that  at  four  in  the  morn- 
ing he  awoke  his  grandmother  to  tell  her  of  it.  She 
tried  to  reassure  him  and  he  returned  to  bed.  In  the 
morning,  however,  a  messenger  arrived,  saying  that 
General  Williams  was  seriously  injured;  and  so  she  and 
young  David  hurriedly  drove  with  a  physician  down 
toward  Lynch's  Creek.  On  the  way  they  met  the  blue 
wagon  driven  by  Smart." 

The  news  of  the  distressing  accident  spread  with 
rapidity,  and  eclipsed  so  completely  his  funeral  obse- 
quies that  there  is  not  one  word,  oral  or  written,  con- 
cerning it.  The  day  after  the  burial,  logically  conducted 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Dossey,  in  the  presence  of  a  great  con- 
course from  all  the  countryside  and  neighboring  places, 
a  correspondent  of  a  paper  in  Philadelphia  visited  Mrs. 
Williams  and  furnished  Editor  W.  T.  Brantly  of  the 
Christian  Index  the  information  which  drew  out  the 
following:  "Our  correspondent  at  Society  Hill  confirms 
the  painful  account  of  the  afflictive  and  unexpected 
end  of  this  distinguished  citizen  of  South  Carolina.  He 
was  superintending  the  construction  of  a  bridge,  when 
the  calamitous  visitation  overtook  him.  A  massive 
piece  of  timber  escaped  unexpectedly  from  the  position 
in  which  it  had  been  placed,  and  falling  upon  a  part  of 
his  body,  crushed  him  in  such  a  manner  that  he  died 
shortly  after.  From  the  flush  of  health,  and  a  most 
conspicuous  station  in  society,  he  was  suddenly  pre- 
cipitated into  the  gloomy  grave.  Our  correspondent 
says,  T  have  just  returned  from  a  visit  to  his  bereft 
widow,  and  learn  that  his  remains  were  yesterday 
deposited  in  the  family  burial  ground.'     General  Wil- 

283 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Hams  had  occupied  many  public  stations  with  great 
honor  to  himself  and  benefit  to  others.  He  was  a  man 
of  prominent  talents  and  enterprise,  patriotic,  generous, 
and  brave.  He  was  a  kind  and  affectionate  relative,  an 
ardent  friend,  and  a  candid  enemy.  Such  a  citizen 
would  be  a  serious  loss  to  any  community;  but  to  that 
in  which  he  lived,  his  loss  in  many  respects  will  be  irrep- 
arable.* ' 

One  week  before  General  Williams'  death,  the  Pendle- 
ton Messenger  mentioned  that  his  name  had  been  pro- 
posed as  candidate  for  Governor.  He,  however,  had 
promptly  disclaimed  any  intention  to  appear  before  the 
people.  Its  testimony  concerning  his  official  conduct 
was,  "he  has  ably  and  faithfully  discharged  his  duties 
and  has  left  behind  him  an  honorable  and  enviable 
reputation."  The  Charleston  Courier  remarked  that 
"The  premature  death  of  so  virtuous,  talented,  and 
patriotic  citizen,  would  at  any  time  have  been  a  source 
of  deep  regret;  but  the  dispensation  is  doubly  severe  at 
the  present  political  juncture,  when  the  State  requires 
the  aid  of  its  ablest  pilots  to  direct  its  course  in  the 
political  troubles  with  which  it  is  surrounded." 

The  Camden  Journal's  remarks  are  fuller  and  are 
drawn  from  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  its  deceased 
friend  and  contributor:  "It  is  with  no  common  sorrow 
that  we  announce  the  death  of  David  R.  Williams.  He 
died  at  Witherspoon  Ferry  on  Lynch's  Creek  on  Wed- 
nesday morning  of  last  week  aged  fifty-four  years. 
The  circumstances  attending  this  melancholy  event 
render  it  even  more  peculiarly  distressing.  He  was 
superintending  the  erection  of  a  bridge  over  the  Creek, 
and  while  in  the  act  of  giving  directions,  some  portions 
of  the  timber  accidentally  fell  upon  him,  brake  both 

284 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

legs  below  the  knee,  and  otherwise  bruised  and  shattered 
his  frame  in  the  most  shocking  manner.  Notwith- 
standing this,  however,  he  never  for  a  moment  lost  his 
presence  of  mind,  but  with  perfect  knowledge  of  his 
situation  and  with  the  utmost  self-possession  he  directed 
a  servant  to  take  from  his  pocket  a  lancet  and  bleed 
him  copiously,  which  was  done.  After  lingering  in 
the  excruciating  pain  for  seventeen  hours,  he  expired, 
and  before  any  member  of  his  family  could  reach  him, 
the  accident  having  occurred  fifty  miles  from  home. 

"We  doubt  whether  South  Carolina  (has  a  citizen) 
whose  loss  at  this  time  would  be  more  deeply  lamented. 
General  Williams  was  a  favorite  and  cherished  son. 
There  is  scarcely  an  office  from  the  highest  to  the  hum- 
blest that  he  has  not  either  filled  or  been  solicited  to  do 
so,  and  always  with  most  distinguished  faithfulness  and 
ability.  The  deceased  was  educated  at  Brown  Uni- 
versity and  was  called  in  early  life  to  important  offices 
by  his  fellow-citizens — was  elected  to  Congress  (in  1805) 
where  he  served  till  1813  (except  1809-11),  and  during 
that  time  was  a  distinguished,  zealous,  and  most  useful 
representative,  serving  for  a  long  time  at  the  head  of 
the  most  important  committee  of  the  House.  In  1813 
he  was  appointed  Brigadier-General  in  the  United 
States  Army  and  served  for  some  time  with  General 
Boyd  on  the  northern  frontier.  His  services  there  were 
of  the  most  active  and  laborious  character  and  his  zeal 
and  gallantry  were  evincive  of  the  highest  chivalry. 
But  we  all  know  the  unfortunate  mode  which  some  of 
our  northern  campaigns  were  conducted.  General 
Williams  became  disgusted  and  requested  to  be  em- 
ployed at  the  South,  and  he  was  accordingly  transferred 
to  the  Southern  Army.     Soon  after  that  he  resigned, 

285 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

and  in  1814  he  was  elected  Governor  of  the  State;  the 
first  intimation  of  which  high  distinction  was  given  to 
him  on  his  own  plantation  by  a  communication  from 
the  legislature.  After  serving  out  his  constitutional 
period,  General  Williams  was  a  distinguished  and  in- 
fluential member  of  the  Senate  of  the  State  and  has  been 
repeatedly  and  most  urgently  solicited  again  to  fill  the 
gubernatorial  chair.  Indeed  his  fellows  have  always 
been  urged  to  obtain  his  public  service,  in  proportion 
to  the  difficulties  in  which  they  have  seen  the  State 
involved.  The  highest  reliance  has  always  been  placed 
in  the  firmness,  energy,  and  patriotism  of  David  R. 
Williams.  Few  men  possessed  so  great  a  versatility  of 
character,  so  much,  if  the  expression  be  a  warrantable 
one,  of  the  stamina  of  popularity,  as  General  Williams. 
The  isolated  excellences  of  great  men  were  found  com- 
bined in  him.  He  was  a  gallant  soldier,  a  most  courtly 
gentleman,  a  firm,  ardent,  and  sometimes,  perhaps,  an 
impetuous  public  functionary,  at  the  same  time  that 
he  was  the  blandest  and  most  amiable  man  in  the  pri- 
vate circles  of  life.  The  kindest  husband,  parent, 
friend,  while  he  was  the  most  active,  indefatigable  and 
enterprising  citizen.  His  house  was  the  home  of  hospi- 
tality and  his  great  wealth,  the  fund  upon  which  charity 
never  found  a  draft  dishonored."* 

The  spot  where  this  illustrious  Pee  Deean  was  laid 
to  rest  is  in  sight  of  Robbin's  Neck  depot.     The  hal- 

*An  elderly  woman  who  knew  him  only  by  reputation  came  to  General  Williams 
one  night  to  solicit  aid  in  saving  her  son  from  the  clutches  of  the  law  for  some  defal- 
cation. He  furnished  the  money  and  the  youth  went  to  work,  made  good  and  re- 
turned every  dollar.  (N.  W.  Kirkpatrick.)  General  Williams  allowed  his  neighbor- 
iiness  in  the  time  of  no  banks  to  overcome  his  judgment.  After  having  paid  a  note 
endorsed  by  him,  he  met  Dr.  Smith  on  one  of  his  plantations  and  said,  "  Hold  up  your 
hands:  Swear:  'I  will  never  go  security.'"  It  has  been  handed  down  that  $70,000 
was  paid  out  by  his  estate  on  security  debts. 

286 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

lowed  spot  is  shaded  by  a  majestic  elm,  and  cedar  trees 
draped  with  pendent  moss  stand  as  unwearied  sentinels 
about  it.  Upon  a  rectangular  brick  wall  around  the 
grave  still  kept  in  good  order  was  placed  a  marble  slab, 
containing  this  epitaph : 


TO   THE   MEMORY 
OF 

DAVID    ROGERSON    WILLIAMS 

who  died  the  17th  day  of  November,  1830,  at  Lynch's 
Creek,  Witherspoon  Ferry.     He  died  of  wounds  re- 
ceived while  erecting  a  bridge  at  that  place 
of  which  he  suffered   17  hours,  aged  54 
years,  eight   months   and  nine  days. 

Not  to  perpetuate  his  worth  but  to 
make  more  sacred 

THIS    SPOT 

Which  retains  the  memories  of  him  who  was  as 
kind  as  he  was  virtuous 

THIS    MONUMENT    ERECTED 
BY   HIS   WIDOW 

ELIZABETH    WILLIAMS 


287 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

HIS    LEGACY    AND    DESCENDANTS 

THE  last  will  and  testament  made  by  General 
Williams  appointed  Mrs.  Williams  executrix 
and  J.  N.  Williams  executor.  After  his  death 
J.  M.  Davis,  John  K.  Mclver  and  D.  R.  W.  Mclver 
were  appointed  to  appraise  the  estate.  They  mentioned 
the  Factory,  the  Upper  Quarter,  the  Middle  Quarter, 
the  Barn  Plantation  and  Plumfield,  only  to  specify 
the  property  left  upon  them.  The  number  of  acres  in 
each  and  their  estimated  value  did  not  come  under  this 
purview.  Other  land  belonging  to  the  estate  was  fifty 
miles  distant  and  it  was  not  to  be  touched  during  Mrs. 
Williams'  lifetime. 

At  the  Factory,  where  the  family  resided,  there  were 
20  male  and  24  female  slaves,  with  19  children.  Two 
yoke  of  oxen  with  suitable  carts  and  wagons,  40  sows, 
shoats  and  pigs,  7,000  pounds  of  bacon  and  one-half 
interest  in  a  store.  There  is  no  appraisal  of  the  cotton 
factory,  grist  mills,  shoe  and  hat  factories,  etc.,  of  cash 
on  hand,  bonds,  or  of  the  cotton  crop  of  1830.  The 
house  furniture  was  put  down  at  $2,155,  three  shotguns 
and  rifles  $200,  kitchen  furniture  $200,  carriage  horses 
and  sulky  $300,  saddle  horses  $375,  library  $400,  goods 
in  the  store  $2,000.  The  estimates  may  be  considered 
as  low  rather  than  high  as  only  one  negro  servant  in 

288 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

63  was  rated  as  high  as  $700,  and  Smart,  the  favorite 
servant  of  the  deceased  master,  and  four  others  were 
valued  at  $600  each.  Some  thirty-six  of  them  were  un- 
der $300.    The  mules  were  assessed  at  an  average  of  $50. 

At  the  Upper  Quarter  there  were  27  male  and  24 
female  slaves.  Here  also  were  4  mares,  1  jack,  64 
mules,  172  head  of  cattle,  5  yoke  of  oxen  and  6  vehicles. 
These  animals  congregated  at  the  Upper  Quarter  in 
the  winter  time,  belonged,  it  is  supposed,  also  to  the 
other  plantations.  On  this  place  were  found  120  hogs, 
70  head  of  sheep  and  7,000  pounds  of  bacon,  1,500  bush- 
els of  corn,  25,000  pounds  of  fodder  and  plantation  tools. 
Five  of  the  servants  at  the  Upper  Quarter  were  valued 
at  $1  each.  They  were  evidently  old  men  and  women 
who  were  past  active  field  labor  and  were  on  the  pension 
list.     Only  one  was  valued  at  $500. 

At  the  Middle  Quarter  there  were  25  males  and  20 
females,  85  head  of  hogs,  plantation  tools,  5  carts  and 
wagons,  1,800  pounds  of  fodder  and  2,500  pounds  of 
bacon. 

At  the  Barn  Plantation  were  found  23  males  and 
24  females,  3,300  bushels  of  corn,  33  stacks  of  fodder,  100 
head  of  hogs,  5  carts  and  wagons,  6,000  pounds  of  bacon. 

At  Plumfield  there  were  19  males  and  20  females, 
152  head  of  hogs,  1,000  bushels  of  corn,  30  stacks  of 
fodder,  4,000  pounds  of  bacon,  5  carts  and  wagons, 
4  canoes  and  1  boat  and  tackling. 

There  were  all  told  245  dependents  on  the  five  plan- 
tations in  1831. 

Among  these  servants  was  not  included  the  number 
Mrs.  Williams  brought  with  her  from  the  Witherspoon 
estate.  Her  household  was  sufficient  for  the  working 
of  the  Upper  Quarter  left  for  her  use.     There  were  all 

289 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

told  7  yoke  of  oxen,  4  mares,  64  mules,  1  jack,  172 
cattle,  70  sheep,  497  swine,  two  months  after  more 
than  26,500  pounds  of  bacon  had  been  placed  in  his 
smokehouses,  7,000  bushels  of  corn,  26,800  pounds  of 
fodder  and  63  stacks  of  the  same. 

The  sum  total  was  $86,475,  perhaps  not  a  third  or 
a  fourth  of  the  total  value  of  the  whole  estate.  The  heir, 
J.  Nicholas  Williams,  had  been  a  widower  about  eight 
years  and  remained  unmarried  about  a  year  longer.  This 
period  was  lengthened  somewhat  by  the  age  of  the  girl 
whom  he  desired  to  make  his  partner.  Miss  Sarah  Canty 
Witherspoon  was  in  her  sixteenth  year,  just  through 
her  course  of  education,  when  Col.  Nicholas  Williams 
was  attracted  by  her.  General  Williams  was  again  his 
faithful  ally  and  in  a  confidential  way  asked  permis- 
sion of  his  friend,  John  Dick  Witherspoon,  for  his  son 
to  address  his  daughter,  on  the  supposition  that  the 
difference  between  twenty-eight  and  sixteen  years  was 
not  an  insuperable  objection.  A  courtship,  devoted 
and  absorbing,  reaching  over  a  period  of  five  years  was 
followed  by  marriage  in  September,  1831.  From  this 
union  were  born  .six  children:  Serena  Williams,  Elizabeth 
Williams,  who  died  young,  John  Witherspoon  Williams, 
George  Frederick  Williams,  Constance  Williams,  and 
Sarah  Power  Williams/' ct^l>    OJL±<sjv 

Colonel  Williams  was  a  second  edition  of  General 
Williams,  perhaps  inferior  in  intellectual  ability  and 
energy,  but  his  equal  in  supervision  of  the  large  estate 
and  in  coining  money.  He  was  a  dutiful  son,  had  im- 
bibed his  father's  high  courtly  character  and  his  political 
creed.     Elegant*  in  manners,  intelligent  and  hospitable, 

*What  follows  is  largely  adapted  from  Mr.  J.  W.  DuBose's  recollection  of  Colonel 
Williams. 

290 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

he  more  than  doubled  the  large  estate  inherited  from 
his  father  and  increased  the  number  of  his  hands.  He 
was  a  model  husband  and  father,  a  guileless  man,  de- 
voted Christian  and  a  regular  attendant  upon  the 
services  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  As  to  the  liberality 
of  his  nature — the  six  children  of  his  second  wife  never 
knew  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Chesnut,  parents  of  his  first 
wife,  except  as  "grandfather"  and  "grandmother." 
He  never  lost  the  relation  of  son-in-law  to  his  first 
wife's  parents. 

Colonel  Williams  inherited  his  father's  antipathy  to 
Mr.  Calhoun.  It  was  probably  in  1825,  when  Mr. 
Calhoun  started  by  slow  days'  journeys  to  Washington 
as  Vice-President,  that  he  stopped  at  Cheraw  and  left 
reasons  for  his  opponents  believing  he  had  a  strong  hold 
on  the  popular  imagination.  "He  reached  Cheraw  by 
mail  stage  drawn  by  four  horses  about  midday  and 
dined  at  the  Steimnitz  Hotel.  He  was  clean  shaven 
except  a  fringe  of  beard  around  his  throat  for  protection 
of  the  organ,  it  was  alleged.  At  any  rate,  it  was  charged 
that  not  a  man  in  Cheraw  or  vicinity  showed  a  shaven 
throat  for  six  months  afterwards. " 

The  piazza  of  this  Steimnitz  Hotel,  the  loafing  place 
of  townsfolk  and  visitors,  heard  a  great  deal  about  the 
political  questions  of  the  day.  Colonel  Williams  and 
Mr.  Isaiah  DuBose,  who  lived  between  Society  Hill 
and  Cheraw,  met  there  at  the  time  of  the  tariff  discus- 
sions and  the  former,  disheartened  by  the  outlook,  said, 
"I  will  sell  every  negro  I  own  at  an  average  price  of 
$300."  When  he  showed  that  it  was  a  serious  offer, 
the  two  shook  hands  over  the  trade  in  the  presence  of 
the  company.  Mr.  DuBose  drove  eighty  miles  to  a 
relative,  Dr.  Bishop,  who  agreed  to  be  an  equal  partner 

291 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

in  the  trade.  A  day  was  appointed  to  take  an  inven- 
tory of  the  negroes.  Colonel  Williams  met  with  his 
friends,  but  he  begged  off,  his  wife  having  declined  to 
permit  the  actual  sale. 

Colonel  Williams  was  nominated  and  elected  State 
Senator  in  1830  and  made  a  speech  against  a  state 
convention  which  was  printed  in  pamphlet  form  and 
drew  out  from  Governor  Perry  the  following:  "Colonel 
Williams  has  always  belonged  to  the  old  State  Rights 
Party.  He  has  not  been  shifting  and  veering  with 
every  political  breeze,  like  some  who  now  call  them- 
selves the  true  State  rights  friends.  No  man  can 
charge  him  with  having  been  a  federalist,  or  in  favor  of 
latitudinarian  construction  of  the  constitution.  He  was 
the  active  coadjutor  of  Senator  Smith,  in  favor  of  a 
strict  construction  of  the  constitution,  whilst  the  name 
of  radical  was  a  term  of  reproach,  with  the  present 
ultra-state  rights  party." 

He  was  also  nominated  as  a  Union  man  for  the  Nulli- 
fication Convention  of  1832  to  represent  Darlington. 
This  same  Isaiah  DuBose  was  prevailed  upon  by  the 
nullifiers  to  leave  Cheraw  and  resume  his  old  residence 
in  Darlington,  in  order  to  oppose  Colonel  Williams' 
election.  He  acceded  to  their  request,  but  in  so  doing 
he  did  not  hinder  the  Colonel's  triumphant  election. 
In  the  confusion  and  divisions  caused  by  Nullification, 
Colonel  Williams  remarked  publicly  at  Darlington,  in 
reference  to  Federal  soldiers,  "I  will  feed  them  a  week 
if  they  come  here. " 

The  political  troubles  having  been  quieted  on  several 
exciting  occasions,  Colonel  Williams  devoted  the  most  of 
his  life  as  an  amiable  and  elegant  gentleman,  sur- 
charged with  the  milk  of  human  kindness,  to  building 

292 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

up  his  estate  and  providing  for  a  family  of  eight  children. 
As  each  one  became  of  age  or  married,  the  sum  of 
$50,000  was  put  at  his  or  her  disposal,  or  property 
valued  at  that  amount.  His  health  was  not  robust. 
He  weighed  over  350  pounds  and  suffered  from  an  acute 
incurable  headache.  About  the  first  of  April,  1861,  he 
started  on  a  European  tour,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
two  unmarried  daughters,  John  Witherspoon  and  his 
wife.  He  was  too  feeble  to  proceed  farther  than  Balti- 
more, where  he  expired  April  12,  1861.  Just  before 
his  departure  the  remainder  of  his  property  was  de- 
vised in  his  own  language  as  follows: 

"I  give  and  devise  to  my  son  John  Witherspoon 
Williams  my  'Barn  Plantation,'  now  in  his  possession, 
containing  nine  hundred  acres  more  or  less  of  swamp 
land,  to  him  and  his  heirs  forever. 

"I  give  and  devise  to  my  son  George  Frederick  Wil- 
liams seven  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  cleared  land,  to 
be  cut  off  from  the  eastern  part  of  'Bunker  Hill  Plan- 
tation,' together  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of 
the  adjoining  woodland,  to  him  and  his  heirs  forever. 

"I  give  and  devise  to  my  beloved  wife  Sally,  to  my 
said  sons  to  whom  I  have  hereinfore  given  plantations 
and  to  the  said  John  W.  and  George  F.  Williams  as 
Trustees  for  the  estate  of  their  sister  Serena  Kirk- 
patrick  my  swamp  land  known  as  the  Big  Field  and 
Island  to  them  and  their  heirs  forever  to  be  used  by 
them  jointly  as  pasture  land. 

"I  give,  devise  and  bequeath  to  my  said  wife  all  the 
rest  and  residue  of  my  property  both  real  and  personal 
of  all  kinds  whatsoever  to  her  and  her  heirs  forever 
upon  the  following  conditions  to  wit : 

293 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

"1.  That  she  shall,  upon  the  marriage  of  my  daugh- 
ter Constance,  convey  to  Trustees  for  the  sole  and 
separate  use  of  the  said  Constance  the  sum  of  Fifty 
thousand  dollars  in  money  bonds  or  stocks  or  if  my 
wife  shall  prefer  it  the  same  amount  in  land  and  negroes 
which  my  elder  children  who  have  been  thus  appor- 
tioned have  received  and  in  addition  to  either  of  the 
above  named  portions  the  following  named  negroes 
viz — Pamela  and  her  children  Ellen,  Elizabeth,  Julia, 
Robert,  Ernest,  together  with  the  increase  of  the  females 
the  said  property  to  be  secured  to  her  with  the  same 
trusts  and  limitations  as  in  the  cases  of  my  daughters 
Serena  and  Alice  heretofore  married — And  should  the 
said  Constance  not  marry  in  the  lifetime  of  my  said 
wife  that  she  my  said  wife  shall  convey  to  the  said 
Constance,  by  last  will  or  by  deed  or  gift  the  said  sum 
of  money  or  the  said  property  real  and  personal  either 
in  fee  simple  or  with  limitations. 

"2.  That  she  shall  upon  the  marriage  of  my  daugh- 
ter Sally  Power  convey  to  Trustees  for  her  sole  and 
separate  use  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  money 
bonds  or  stocks  or  if  she  my  wife  should  prefer  it  the 
same  amount  in  land  and  negroes  which  my  elder  chil- 
dren who  have  thus  been  apportioned  have  received 
and  in  addition  to  either  portion  herein  named  the 
following  negroes — Nat,  Esther  (Phillis,  George  and 
Edward)  (the  children  of  Nat  and  Esther)  together 
with  the  increase  of  the  females  the  said  property  to 
be  secured  to  her  with  the  same  trusts  and  limitations 
as  in  the  cases  of  my  daughters  Serena  and  Alice  and 
should  the  said  Sally  Power  not  marry  in  the  lifetime 
of  my  said  wife  that  she  my  said  wife  shall  convey  to 
her  by  last  will  or  by  deed  or  by  gift,  the  said  sum  of 

294 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

money,  or  the  said  property  real  and  personal,  either 
in  fee  simple  or  with  limitations. 

"3.  That  she  shall  by  deed  or  will  as  she  may  choose 
convey  to  my  son  John  at  her  death  my  residence  known 
as  the  Factory  with  three  hundred  acres  of  land  around, 
or  if  he  prefer  it  five  thousand  dollars  in  money  to 
build  a  house  and  three  hundred  acres  of  land  wher- 
ever he  may  select  it  in  my  upland. 

"4.  That  she  shall  by  deed  or  will  as  she  may  choose 
convey  to  my  sons  John  and  George  if  they  or  either  of 
them  shall  be  living  or  if  otherwise  to  others  in  trust 
for  my  daughter  Serena  Kirkpatrick  and  after  her  death 
to  her  children  my  plantation  called  Plumfield  in  Marl- 
boro and  in  Darlington — the  boundary  in  Darlington 
to  commence  with  the  line  known  as  the  Northern 
boundary  and  running  with  the  said  line  to  the  old 
Darlington  road,  thence  with  said  Road  to  Buckholts 
Creek,  thence  down  said  Creek  to  the  River  lowgrounds ; 
together  with  the  stock  provisions  and  necessary  plan- 
tation tools  and  utensils  that  may  be  thereon  at  the 
time  of  said  conveyance;  and  also  the  sum  of  five  thou- 
sand dollars  in  money,  to  be  held  by  them  to  the  same 
uses  and  trusts  as  the  property  heretofore  conveyed  to 
them  by  me  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  said  Serena 
Kirkpatrick. 

"It  is  further  my  will  and  desire  that  my  said  wife 
should  dispose  of  that  portion  of  my  estate  hereinbefore 
given  to  her,  as  she  may  choose,  either  by  deed  or  will, 
the  conditions  hereinbefore  mentioned  having  been  first 
observed,  and  in  such  portions  and  to  such  persons  as 
she  may  choose;  but  if  my  said  wife  should  die  before 
me  or  die  leaving  no  will,  or  having  conveyed  by  deed 
the  aforesaid  property  as  directed,  then  it  is  my  will 

295 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

and  desire  that  after  the  payment  of  the  portions  of  my 
daughters  Serena,  Constance  and  Sarah  P.  and  of  my 
son  John  W.  as  direction  in  the  conditions  annexed  to 
the  devise  and  bequest  to  my  said  wife,  that  my  sons 
John  W.  and  George  F.  and  my  daughters  Serena,  Alice, 
Constance  and  Sarah  P.  shall  take  the  remainder  of 
the  property  hereinbefore  given  to  my  said  wife,  to  be 
divided  amongst  them,  share  and  share  alike,  the  child 
or  children  of  any  deceased  child  to  represent  his,  her 
or  their  parent;  and  the  portions  going  to  my  said 
daughters  to  be  secured  to  them  and  their  children  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  portions  heretofore  settled  on 
my  married  daughters  by  me. 

"I  do  nominate,  constitute  and  appoint  my  sons 
John  W.  and  George  F.  the  Executors  of  this  my  last 
will  and  testament,  with  power  in  either  or  both  to  act 
in  the  premises." 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  negroes  were  free,  the 
land  was  secure  but  comparatively  valueless.  Four 
hundred  bales  of  cotton  were  in  Mrs.  Williams'  posses- 
sion. As  to  what  became  of  these  bales,  a  few  words 
will  cover  it  all.  "The  bales  of  cotton  on  the  Williams 
plantation  after  Appomattox  had  been  all  or  in  part 
subscribed  to  the  Confederate  loan  and  subsequently 
purchased  in  bonds  of  the  government  from  the  gov- 
ernment. Sherman  did  not  go  into  Robbin's  Neck." 
Another  statement  about  it  is  found  in  Mrs.  Mary 
Boy  kin  Chesnut's  Diary  from  Dixie  made  on  the  31st 
of  May,  1865:  "Mrs.  W.  (Mrs.  J.  N.  Williams)  drove  up. 
She  too  is  off  for  New  York,  to  sell  her  four  hundred 
bales  of  cotton  and  a  square,  or  something  which  pays 
handsomely  in  the  Central  Park  Region,  and  to  cap- 

296 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

ture  and  bring  home  her  belle  fille,  who  remained  North 
during  the  war.  .  .  .  She  was  very  kind.  In  case 
my  husband  was  arrested  and  needed  funds,  she  offered 
me  some  'British  securities'  and  bonds."  Whether 
Mrs.  Williams  sold  her  cotton  and  pocketed  an  im- 
mense sum,  or  failed  to  get  a  cent,  owing  to  its  once 
being  Confederate  property,  cannot  be  stated.  The 
real  estate,  however,  netted  her  between  ninety-nine 
and  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  piece  of  prop- 
erty came  into  the  possession  of  the  family  by  the 
failure  of  Colonel  Williams'  factor,  to  whom  he  shipped 
his  yarn  and  cloth.  He  was  pleased  with  the  invest- 
ment and  went  to  a  sale  to  add  to  it  some  adjoining 
property,  but  it  became  his  sick  headache  day  and  he 
desisted.  (Kirkpatrick.)  Rev.  Robert  Williams,  Da- 
vid Williams,  David  R.  Williams  and  John  Nicholas 
Williams  all  lie  entombed  on  the  Williams  estate. 
The  last  two  only  rest  in  the  Williams  burial  ground, 
under  the  cedars  and  a  great  elm.  Upon  the  tomb  of 
the  latter  his  affectionate  and  dutiful  children  focussed 
their  thoughts  and  feelings  into  an  epitaph  of  one  word, 

"FATHER." 


297 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE   OVERFLOW 

NORMAL  men  are  religious,  but  few  are  really 
pious.  Among  the  latter  class  General  Wil- 
liams was  not  placed  by  his  contemporaries; 
but  he  was,  according  to  a  commonly  received  nugget 
of  wisdom,  the  noblest  work  of  God,  an  honest  man. 
He  enjoyed  the  pulpit  administrations  of  Dr.  Richard 
Furman  before  the  days  of  Sunday-schools  and  became 
familiar  with  the  best  contents  of  the  Bible,  and  used  it 
on  great  occasions.  His  nickname,  Thunder  and  Light- 
ning Williams,  fitted  the  strength  of  his  voice  and  rapid 
elocution,  but  the  similitude  was  probably  suggested 
by  his  application  to  "treason"  of  the  language  of 
Revelation  VI,  1.  In  his  vehemence  against  the  New 
England  defection  in  the  War  of  1812,  he  spoke  of  it  as 
rending  the  veil  of  the  constitution,  which  he  ever  re- 
garded as  the  holy  of  holies  in  our  political  temple. 
In  his  last  and  eloquent  message  to  the  legislature  in 
1816,  his  language  was  a  reverberation  of  Job's  refer- 
ence to  the  grave — you  have  come  up  to  the  appointed 
house  of  the  people,  in  connection  with  "the  wisdom 
that  cometh  down  from  above."  One  of  his  last  and 
happiest  quotations  was  a  rebuke  to  certain  anonymous 
critics  who  had  been  abusing  his  conservatism — they 
have  for  once  omitted  the  practice  of  the  sublime 

298 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

scriptural  doctrine  of  doing  as  they  would  be  done 

by. 

What  judgment  did  the  officiating  minister  pass  upon 
the  life  that  had  been  closed?  His  words  were  winged 
and  flew  away,  but  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  men  in 
all  ages  are  similar  as  they  stand  around  the  lifeless 
form  of  a  fellow-man.  A  Hebrew  would  have  been 
reminded  of  the  words,  "Dust  returns  to  the  earth  as 
it  was,  and  the  spirit  to  God  who  gave  it."  A  Roman 
would  have  quoted  from  a  poet,  "Lands  and  houses 
and  pleasant  wife  had  all  to  be  left  and  of  all  the  crops 
and  trees  he  tended,  not  one  followed  except  the  hated 
cypress."  In  a  better  mood,  he  would  have  added, 
"He  will  not  altogether  die.  A  large  part  of  him  will 
escape  the  grave.  He  will  continue  to  live,  not  in 
Asphodel  meadows  but  in  the  minds  and  memories  of 
men. "  One  of  his  pagan  ancestors  would  have  thought 
of  him  as  of  a  bird  which  comes  into  a  lighted  banquet- 
ing hall  and  after  flitting  to  and  fro,  goes  out  again  into 
the  darkness,  whither  no  one  knows.  Had  a  certain 
philosopher  been  present  and  questioned  about  the 
life  of  the  deceased  and  its  influence  on  the  future,  his 
cautious  reply  would  have  been,  "You  can  count  the 
apples  on  a  tree,  but  who  can  number  the  trees  in  an 
apple?"  Eighty-four  years  then  in  the  womb  of  the 
future  have  passed,  and  what  then  might  have  been 
classed  as  mere  prediction,  comes  now  in  the  domain  of 
history.  The  apples  found  on  the  biographical  tree 
have  been  counted  and  some  of  the  trees  in  the  apple 
have  in  the  intervening  years  germinated,  reached 
maturity  and  borne  fruit,  each  after  its  kind. 

It  was  not  possible  for  the  influence  of  an  eminent 
man,  devoted  to  politics,  education,  farming,   manu- 

299 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

facturing  and  to  social  developments,  to  be  restrained 
within  the  limits  of  his  lifetime.  It  was  inevitable 
that  it  should  live  on  in  the  next  generations  and  in  a 
measure  give  direction  to  the  forces  of  progress.  In 
the  light  of  after  times,  it  appears  to  be  awarding 
simple  justice  to  his  posthumous  influence  to  record 
some  subsequent  movements  in  agriculture  and  edu- 
cation, which  grew  out  from,  or  up  after  and  in  conso- 
nance with,  his  previous  labors,  or  the  labors  of  which 
he  was  the  acknowledged  leader.  These  two  are  chosen 
because  in  them  the  chain  of  events  has  been  less  dis- 
turbed by  the  disastrous  subversion  of  our  social  econ- 
omy since  his  day,  than  that  in  social  circles,  manufac- 
turing and  politics.  A  separate  volume  instead  of  brief 
desultory  references  might  be  devoted  to  each. 

He  was  a  man  of  good  understanding,  that  rare 
commodity  which,  in  conjunction  with  patient  energy, 
industry,  and  public  spirit,  becomes  a  wellspring  of 
life  to  the  whole  community.  His  plantation  became 
an  experiment  station,  primarily  in  its  own  interests, 
but  all  who  wished  shared  in  the  benefits  of  its  conclu- 
sions. He  had  no  monopoly,  however,  in  experiment- 
ing, in  the  state  or  in  the  neighborhood;  nor  did  the 
scientific  spirit  which  he  fostered  die  with  him.  His 
son  Nicholas  went  beyond  him  in  gathering  1,500 
pounds  of  seed  cotton  and  40  bushels  of  corn  per  acre 
from  a  large  body  of  his  low  grounds. 

One  of  his  younger  contemporaries,  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin Williamson,  born  February  3,  1814,  was  engaged  in 
a  line  of  work  equally  important  and  scientific.  As  he 
lived  on  into  the  memories  of  men  still  in  the  land  of 
the  dying,  the  sketch  to  be  given  of  him  will  serve  to 
suggest   details  now  forgotten   in   General   Williams' 

300 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

methodical  management  of  his  plantations  and  also 
give  a  hint  that  one  instance  of  such  excellence  in  the 
farming  line  could  not  have  been  a  solitary  phenomenon. 
Benjamin  F.  was  blessed  with  a  father  wise  enough 
and  able  to  educate  him  at  the  best  schools  and  grad- 
uate him  at  the  state  college  and,  after  his  graduation 
in  1833,  to  present  him  with  a  half  interest  in  two  farms, 
one  a  fine  one  on  the  Pee  Dee  River  the  other  on  Black 
Creek  called  the  Oaklyn  Plantation,  the  place  of  his 
birth.  After  disposing  of  the  river  lands,  he  concen- 
trated his  interests  on  the  latter  plantation,  where  he 
built  a  modest  home  and  began  the  foundation  of  a 
career  that  made  him  a  planter  of  recognized  ability 
and  success.  The  fields  had  been  worn  out  and  largely 
abandoned  for  the  more  fertile  but  uncertain  land  on 
the  river,  and  was  at  first  very  unproductive.  His 
friends  freely  criticised  him  for  making  what  seemed  to 
be  an  unwise  and  foolish  trade,  but  by  method  and 
perseverance  Oaklyn  became  so  productive  and  re- 
munerative that  at  the  beginning  of  the  War  between 
the  States  he  was  accounted  one  of  the  most  successful 
planters  in  the  state  and  had  accumulated  a  goodly 
fortune. 

His  plantation  was  a  model  of  method  and  order  and 
the  organization  was  most  complete.  The  barns, 
stables,  and  outbuildings  were  arranged  and  placed  to 
the  best  advantage  and  convenience,  and  the  spacious 
premises  were  laid  off  with  great  precision  and  exact- 
ness. The  negro  quarters  were  laid  off  with  streets 
and  set  with  shade  trees,  and  the  overseer's  residence 
so  arranged  at  one  end  as  to  command  a  view  of  the 
quarters.  Every  road  and  boundary  was  as  straight 
and  as  square  as  circumstances  would  permit.     Every 

301 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

building  was  set  square  and  true,  and  every  field  con- 
formed to  a  convenient  shape  and  size.  The  ditches 
were  laid  off  with  so  much  judgment  and  care  that  for 
half  a  century  it  has  been  unnecessary  to  cut  new  ones. 
There  was  a  place  for  everything  and  everything  was  in 
its  place.  The  plantation  was  entirely  self-sustaining 
and  independent  of  the  outside  world,  except  for  salt, 
coffee,  clothing,  shoes,  drugs,  iron,  and  a  few  other 
articles.  An  abundance  of  everything  that  could  be 
grown  under  our  sun  and  clime  was  produced.  Most  of 
the  agricultural  implements  were  made  on  the  farm, 
and  wagons  were  repaired  and  rebuilt  until  they  lasted 
for  twenty  years.  An  abundant  supply  of  seasoned 
hickory,  oak,  ash,  and  other  woods  was  always  on 
hand. 

The  negroes  were  well  housed,  well  clothed,  well  fed 
and  well  cared  for.  They  were  carefully  trained  to  do 
the  work  that  they  were  best  qualified  to  do,  and  many 
had  their  specialties:  Tom  was  a  good  carpenter,  Dave 
an  excellent  blacksmith,  Big  Ben  the  chief  wagoner, 
Richard  the  ditcher,  Manuel  the  butcher,  Will  the 
cattle  minder,  Flander  the  driver,  Enoch  the  rail  splitter, 
Alfred  the  hewer,  Ham  the  ox  driver,  and  Peggy  was  in 
charge  of  the  children  and  the  sick,  and  had  a  garden 
of  herbs  and  medicinal  plants.  Even  the  mules  were 
used  for  the  work  that  each  was  best  fitted  to  do. 
There  was  not  a  mulatto  on  his  place.  Daniel  Jessie, 
a  large  black  negro  of  remarkable  native  sense,  judg- 
ment, and  ability  was  foreman  and  assisted  the  overseer, 
and  many  things  were  entrusted  to  his  care.  After 
the  war  Mr.  Williamson's  negroes  were  sought  for  by 
others  on  account  of  their  training,  knowledge,  and 
ability  to  do  good  work. 

302 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Shortly  after  Mr.  Williamson  began  to  plant  he  at 
once  began  to  select  and  improve  seeds  of  various  kinds. 
About  1838  he  procured  some  seed  corn  from  Virginia 
which  he  liked  very  much,  and  began  to  improve  by 
selection  until  he  produced  a  distinct  variety  that  was 
true  in  reproduction  and  of  a  very  excellent  quality, 
now  known  as  the  "Williamson  Corn."  Dr.  Parker  of 
Columbia,  who  held  the  record  yield  for  so  long  of  212 
bushels  per  acre,  obtained  the  seed  with  which  he 
planted  the  acre  directly  from  Mr.  Williamson.  He 
also  produced  an  excellent  variety  of  cotton  and  before 
the  war,  even  before  commercial  fertilizers  were  used, 
he  produced  14,400  pounds  of  seed  cotton  on  his  "Four 
Acre  Patch."  Without  the  use  of  any  commercial 
fertilizers  his  entire  crop  had  averaged  1,100  pounds  of 
seed  cotton  per  acre. 

During  the  fifty-three  years  Mr.  Williamson  was  en- 
gaged in  planting,  he  never  bought  a  ton  of  hay,  nor  a 
bushel  of  corn,  until  1881,  when  he  bought  fifty  bushels, 
a  fact  that  he  was  always  ashamed  to  own.  An  abun- 
dance of  bacon,  rice,  flour,  vegetables  and  fruits  were 
raised  on  his  plantation.  Beeves  were  regularly  butch- 
ered and  his  hams  and  mutton  were  the  choicest. 
Those  who  remember  him  know  his  constant  and  un- 
varying advice  to  others  who  planted  was  to  raise 
their  own  provisions  and  "live  at  home."  He  was 
energetic  and  determined,  yet  very  conservative  in 
his  views  and  opinions,  and  of  excellent  judgment  and 
executive  ability.  He  gave  close  attention  to  the 
smallest  details  and  nothing  ever  escaped  his  notice. 
He  cultivated  the  acquaintance  of  men  who  led  in  the 
science  and  progress  of  farming.  Professors  Tuomey 
and  Ruflin,  the  geologists,  and  Dr.  Ravenel  the  chem- 

303 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

ist  and  scientist  were  guests  at  his  home.  He  was  an 
admirer  and  endorsed  most  of  the  views  and  teachings 
of  David  Dixon. 

Mr.  Williamson  attended  strictly  to  his  own  affairs, 
yet  he  was  public  spirited  and  contributed  to  public 
causes.  He  was  one  of  the  chief  supporters  of  the 
South  Carolina  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Fair  Com- 
pany along  with  Colonel  J.  Wash  Watts  and  others. 
He  contributed  to  the  capital  stock  of  railroads,  banks, 
cotton  factories,  and  other  public  enterprises.  While  he 
never  held  a  public  office  of  any  kind  and  refrained  from 
taking  a  prominent  part  in  the  public  meetings  he  sup- 
ported everything  that  was  for  the  welfare  and  benefit 
of  his  community.  His  ideas  were  in  advance  of  his 
time  although  eminently  practical  in  their  application 
in  his  own  time,  and  the  things  he  preached  and  prac- 
tised during  his  lifetime  were  in  exact  accord  with  the 
best  practice  and  counsel  of  to-day.  The  importance 
of  crop  rotation,  the  value  of  the  cowpea,  humus,  surf, 
and  making  and  caring  for  home-made  manures,  were 
well  known  to  him. 

In  1841  Mr.  Williamson  married  Leonora  WTilson  by 
whom  he  had  four  sons.  She  died  in  1855.  In  1858 
he  married  Margaret  Mclver,  daughter  of  Gen.  Evan- 
der  Roderick  Mclver,  by  whom  he  had  three  sons  and 
three  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  now  living.  His  sons 
are  all  farmers.  He  died  at  Oaklyn,  October  20, 1887, 
near  where  he  was  born,  under  the  shade  of  the  beau- 
tiful oaks  he  had  planted  in  his  youth. 

On  his  way  to  and  from  Washington,  1805-1813, 
Congressman  Williams  habitually  stopped  at  his  friend 
Draughon's  house  near  Fayettesville.  Being  struck 
with  the  accomplishments  of  his  host's  daughter,  Jane, 

304 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

he  persuaded  his  friend  Peter  Edwards  to  accompany 
him  on  one  occasion,  in  order  that  he  might  see  the 
young  lady  whom  he  thought  so  attractive  and  charm- 
ing. They  fell  in  love  with  each  other  at  first  sight, 
and  in  due  time  Peter  went  to  claim  his  bride  and  car- 
ried as  his  best  man,  Evander  Roderick  Mclver.  He 
met  at  the  marriage  Miss  Eliza  Cowan  and  duplicated 
the  experience  of  the  older  couple.  Professor  Peter  C. 
Edwards  was  one  of  the  descendants  of  the  first  pair 
and  a  daughter  of  the  second  became  the  wife  of  Benja- 
min Franklin  Williamson  and  the  mother  of  the  six 
already  mentioned.  One  of  these,  E.  Mclver  William- 
son,* is  known  as  the  author  of  the  Williamson  method 
of  increasing  the  corn  yield.  He  has  spent  much  time 
in  explaining  the  method  to  agricultural  gatherings  in 
this  and  in  other  states,  with  no  view  to  profiting  finan- 
cially, as  a  paid  speaker  or  as  a  disseminator  of  prolific 
seed.  His  method  excited  some  honest  opposition  from 
agricultural  editors,  and  its  success  "put  a  move  on" 
government  experimenters  in  the  corn  line,  for  which 
little  credit  is  now  given.  As  a  result,  however,  of  this 
plan  of  corn  culture,  where  it  is  in  general  use,  farmers 
are  now  making  their  own  corn  and  provender.  From 
20  to  300  per  cent,  increase  in  corn  yields  is  reported  as 
due  to  this  preparation,  culture,  and  application  of  the 
fertilizer  at  the  right  time.  It  has  modified  corn  cul- 
ture in  some  places  and  revolutionized  it  in  others. 
The  author  of  the  method  is  still  among  the  living,  as 
is  also  his  co-laborer  in  the  same  field,  Mr.  David  R. 

*A  discriminating  friend  expressed  the  opinion  that  "the  youngest  of  this  trio  was 
probably  the  most  scientific  farmer  in  Darlington  County."  The  well-known  third 
of  the  group  owns  several  thousand  acres  of  the  Williams'  estate  and  is  full  of  that 
unresting,  provident,  Pee  Dee  spirit  which,  while  holding  on  to  what  is  tried  and 
approved,  readily  ventures  into  new  enterprises  and  public  services 

305 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Coker,  without  mention  of  whom  this  overflow  on 
agriculture  in  Darlington  County  would  be  incomplete. 
In  1902  Mr.  Coker  became  interested  in  the  study 
of  cotton  in  the  hope  of  evolving  a  plant  which  would 
add  to  the  income  by  its  longer  staple  and  larger  yields 
— a  feat  pronounced  impossible  by  some  excellent  sea 
island  farmers.  The  time  and  thought  put  on  this 
primary  object  were  soon  employed  in  applying  the 
same  principles  to  seed  breeding  as  are  applied  to  the 
breeding  of  animals.  Until  recently  the  great  body  of 
upland  farmers  thought  little  about  the  length,  strength, 
and  quality  of  cotton;  but  among  the  long  lint  growers 
on  the  coast,  the  quality  was  more  important  than  the 
quantity.  On  John's  Island  an  enterprising  planter* 
received  for  years  $1  per  pound  for  his  cotton,  when  his 
neighbors  could  not  realize  half  that  sum;  but  as  soon 
as  it  became  known  that  the  value  of  the  cotton  was 
traceable  to  the  seed,  others  surpassed  him  in  growing 
the  finest  vegetable  wool  in  the  world.  Seven  years 
and  many  dollars  were  spent  with  scientifically  trained 
experts  before  pedigreed  seed  were  offered  by  the  Coker 
Company,  and  since  that  time  The  Field  Seed  Spe- 
cialists, equipped  with  the  best  modern  appliances,  have 
vigorously  enforced  their  scientific  principles,  in  the 
selection  of  the  leading  field  crops.  The  Pedigreed 
Seed  Company  operates  an  experiment  station  also, 
unconnected  with  the  government;  and  the  conclusions 
reached  on  its  trial  grounds  go  forth  with  all  the  au- 
thority legitimately  due  to  scientific  investigation  and 
demonstration.  The  ideal  toward  which  the  special- 
ists are  aspiring  is  as  simple  as  it  is  startling,  that  every 
seed  in  the  row  or  in  the  field  shall  be  there  by  its  own 

•Seabrook's  report  on  sea  island  cotton,  1841. 

306 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

merit  and  shall  contribute  its  proportion  to  the  sum 
total  at  harvest  time. 

As  the  disquietude  about  the  tariff  grew  in  intensity, 
General  Williams  planned  to  be  so  independent  of  im- 
ported articles  that  the  tariff  could  not  clip  from  his 
income  enough  to  feed  a  tide  waiter.  The  key  to  his 
success  lay  in  his  corn  yields.  Herein  was  the  beginning 
of  his  agricultural  wisdom.  A  practical  successor  was 
Mr.  Mclver  Williamson,  whose  name  is  affixed  to  the 
new  method  of  putting  in  the  crib  better  corn  than 
ever  came  from  the  West.  When  cotton  had  reached 
its  lowest  ebb  General  Williams'  experiments  led  him 
to  believe  that  the  cotton  seed  oil  and  meal  would  add 
ten  dollars  to  the  value  of  the  labor  used  in  making  one 
bale.  The  honor  of  further  enhancing  the  cash  possi- 
bilities of  the  same  labor  must  be  awarded  to  Mr.  Coker, 
by  whose  exertions  the  long  lint  cotton  has  been  super- 
seding the  short  lint  varieties.  The  premium  of  a  five- 
hundred-pound  long  lint  bale  has  ranged  in  recent  years 
from  ten  to  forty  dollars  over  the  short  lint.  A  de- 
mand for  the  long  lint  had  to  be  created  or  enlarged 
among  the  mills  and  a  market  opened  at  Hartsville  to 
handle  from  18,000  to  24,500  bales  annually.  It  is 
estimated  that  the  staple  crop  of  Darlington  County 
will  in  the  present  season  put  at  least  one  million  dollars 
of  extra  profit  in  the  pockets  of  the  farmers.  The 
increased  income  on  the  farm  enables  the  planter  to 
pay  better  wages  to  the  laborers  who  can  rise  to  the 
skill  and  reliability  needed  in  the  planting,  cultivating, 
and  ginning  of  the  long  lint.  It  is  unavailing  to  preach 
to  the  predatory  animal  called  man  from  the  text, 
"Thou  shalt  not  steal,"  or  about  temperance  when  his 
family  is  in  a  chronic  state  of  hunger  and  poorly  clad. 

307 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Change  the  conditions  so  that  his  labor  more  than 
meets  his  daily  needs  and  he  will  become  a  new  man. 
Whatever  puts  more  bread  into  the  mouths  and  more 
comforts  into  the  lives  of  the  men  who  dig  out  of  the 
ground  their  hard-earned  dollars,  is  at  the  same  time 
lifting  upward  the  whole  fabric  of  society. 

The  development  in  the  art  and  science  of  agricul- 
ture in  Darlington  County  may  be  paralleled  by  the 
development  of  politics  and  jurisprudence  in  Abbeville. 
Over  on  the  western  side  of  the  state,  Waddell's  Acad- 
emy did  for  Abbeville  what  St.  David's  did  for  Dar- 
lington. Out  of  the  school  came  forth  Crawford, 
Calhoun,  McDuffie,  Cheves,  Legare,  Longstreet,  and 
other  eminent  men,  and  for  many  years  preceding  the 
war  between  the  states  the  talent  assembled  at  the 
village  was  capable  of  manning  with  credit  the  leading 
executive  and  judicial  offices  at  Washington.  The  col- 
lective organism  was  political  and  judicial,  far  in  ad- 
vance of  some  other  counties.  The  first  secession 
speech  was  made  and  the  last  cabinet  meeting  of 
Jefferson  Davis  was  held  in  this  village  or  vicinity. 

Though  unravaged  during  the  war,  the  county  was 
not  less  effectually  crushed  financially  than  the  Sher- 
manized  portions  of  the  Pee  Dee.  Neither  the  leaders 
of  the  people  nor  their  sons  were  prepared  for  farming 
or  manufacturing,  when  emancipation  stripped  their 
fields  of  laborers  and  reconstruction  closed  for  eleven 
years  the  door  to  politics.  The  practice  of  law  was 
the  only  sphere  left  for  the  exercise  of  their  genius.  The 
people  were  industrious,  economical,  social,  appreciative 
of  schools,  but  wholly  agricultural  and  incoherent,  ex- 
cept in  politics  and  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  Progress 
was  made  and  individual  thrift  accumulated  cash,  but 

308 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

for  several  decades  it  had  to  be  sent  abroad  for  invest- 
ment, where  individual  and  corporate  sagacity  com- 
bined to  offer  inducements.  In  Darlington  County 
the  war  did  not  destroy  the  group  or  social  organism. 
It  was  paralyzed;  but  gradually  it  revived  and  showed 
identity  with  its  former  self.  Had  its  previous  records 
been  entirely  effaced,  subsequent  developments  in  di- 
versified pursuits  would  have  pointed  to  an  earlier  ex- 
pansion of  the  county  quite  different  from  that  of  the 
western  one. 

When  the  Welsh  pitched  their  tents  on  the  banks  of 
the  Pee  Dee,  the  first  engineers  in  South  Carolina,  the 
buffaloes,  had  already  decreed  that  the  Pee  Dee  section 
should  be  somewhat  of  a  back  country.  The  Indian 
trails  followed  the  buffalo  paths,  and  the  white  man 
followed  the  Indian  trails  with  dirt  and  rail  roads. 
The  early  settlers  in  their  advanced  position  could  not 
depend  on  the  distant  government  for  protection.  They 
formed  themselves  into  Regulators  for  safety,  and 
organized  the  St.  David's  Society  and  Academy  for 
education,  performed  all  the  duties  required  by  the 
state  and  cultivated  self-reliance  and  personal  initia- 
tive. They  were  most  fortunate,  owing  jointly  to 
their  own  characteristics  and  to  external  circumstances, 
in  establishing  a  happily  working  equilibrium  between 
their  ardor  in  the  pursuit  of  private  gain  and  their 
readiness  and  zeal  in  combining  in  movements  for  the 
common  welfare.  Sturdy  self-reliance  in  private  mat- 
ters made  them  well-to-do  and,  in  public  affairs,  strong 
in  that  high  civic  virtue  which  disdains  to  ask  the 
government  to  do  what  a  community  can  best  do  for 
itself.  The  efforts  to  improve  methods,  to  increase 
the  fruits  of  labor  and  raise  the  standard  of  living,  be- 

309 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

gan  in  this  distant  backwoods,  and  continued,  with  one 
forced  intermission,  to  be  put  forth  in  the  same  spirit 
and  for  the  same  purpose.  Hence  Darlington's  large 
contribution  in  the  great  awakening  on  the  subject  of 
the  art  and  science  of  agriculture.  The  government, 
after  having  been  long  a  laggard,  became  extravagant 
in  its  appropriations  of  men  and  money  for  agricultural 
improvement;  but  the  momentum  from  the  past  and 
the  gathering  experience  of  the  present  enabled  private 
enterprise  to  make,  by  its  practical  contributions  to 
agriculture,  the  name  of  Darlington  County  better 
known  both  among  farmers  and  in  scientific  circles 
than  any  Southern  experiment  station  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

At  the  time  of  General  Williams'  death  the  necessity 
for  the  existence  of  the  St.  David's  Society  was  passing 
away.  The  community  was  wealthy  and  the  time 
had  come  when  the  management  of  the  school  could, 
without  detriment,  be  assimilated  to  that  of  the  schools 
in  the  state.  The  Welsh  Neck  Church  had  never  been 
represented  in  the  St.  David's  Society,  but  it  had 
opened  its  building,  when  needed,  to  the  meeting  of  the 
Society,  to  the  commencements  of  the  Academy,  and 
even  for  use  as  a  school  when  the  Academy  disappeared 
in  smoke  and  ashes.  It  was,  however,  sharing  in  the 
good  fruits  of  the  Society's  work,  as  wealth  and  culture 
became  more  general.  The  faithfulness  of  the  com- 
munity in  caring  for  primary  and  intermediate  educa- 
tion, with  General  Williams  both  as  servant  and  leader, 
had  been  preparing  the  community  for  larger  educa- 
tional projects,  and  as  it  has  often  happened  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  the  influence  of  the  school,  the 
exponent  of  Greek  civilization,  and  the  church,  the 

310 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

heritage  from  the  Hebrews,  became  allied  and  supple- 
mental. 

In  the  year  1834  a  young  pastor,  James  C.  Furman, 
came  to  Society  Hill,  who  was  destined  to  direct  the 
minds  of  his  brethren  to  a  school  outside  of  the  Welsh 
Neck  and  Pee  Dee  bounds  and  to  reap  a  harvest  sown 
by  other  hands.  The  Furman  Theological  Institution 
was  in  operation  at  the  High  Hills  of  Santee  under  the 
auspices  of  the  State  Baptist  Convention.  At  the  close 
of  a  sermon  the  pastor  spoke  of  the  school  and  prof- 
fered to  forward  any  amounts  contributed.  That 
afternoon  he  received  a  note  from  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Wil- 
liams containing  $100  and  the  statement  that  she 
expected  to  do  more  for  "this  essential  business."  A 
deacon  gave  $1,000  and  several  gave  $500,  making  a 
total  of  nearly  $3,000  at  the  very  dawn  of  private 
liberality  to  higher  education.  The  women  helped  to 
clothe  the  beneficiaries,  the  men  contributed  to  the 
expenses  of  the  institution,  and  the  students  came  back 
to  the  churches  as  pastors.  In  the  eleventh  year  of 
his  pastorate  Mr.  Furman  was  made  Senior  Professor 
of  the  Institution,  then  removed  to  Fairfield.  Influ- 
ential trustees,  J.  K.  Mclver,  J.  O.  B.  Dargan,  T.  P. 
Lide,  were  drawn  from  the  Welsh  Neck  Association  as 
were  also  practically  the  whole  faculty,  Furman,  Mims, 
and  Edwards,  together  with  their  wives.  In  1850  the 
denomination  was  engaged  in  transmuting  the  Furman 
Institution  into  Furman  University,  into  which  effort 
the  Welsh  Neck  Association  put  three-fourths  as  much 
money  as  the  larger  and  wealthier  Charleston  and 
Savannah  River  Associations.  Its  liberality  saved  the 
day.  Mr.  Furman  explained  the  action  of  his  Welsh 
Neck  friends  as  a  tribute  to  the  work  of  the  Seminary 

311 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

in  sending  back  good  ministers  to  the  churches;  but  the 
fuller  reasons  will  reckon  also  the  preparatory  work 
done  by  the  St.  David's  Society.  Nor  did  the  Associa- 
tion stop  here.  The  same  liberality  was  shown  in  1858, 
when  the  theological  department,  now  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  was  separated  from  the  college  courses;  and 
when  the  Seminary  carried  with  it  a  part  of  the  endow- 
ment, I.  D.  Wilson  and  T.  P.  Lide  were  among  the 
first  to  subscribe  $5,000  each  to  help  fill  the  vacuum. 
While  these  larger  movements  were  in  progress,  a  num- 
ber of  citizens  met  at  Black  Creek  Church,  Darlington 
District,  and  passed  resolutions  favoring  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Female  Seminary  of  high  order  at  Spring- 
ville,  on  the  lands  of  Mr.  James  Lide,  ten  miles  east  of 
Hartsville.  The  Association  heartily  endorsed  the  proj- 
ect and  endeavored  to  bring  it  to  pass,  but  in  connec- 
tion with  their  other  obligations,  it  proved  to  be  im- 
practicable. 

The  St.  David's  Society  was  indeed  a  light  to  lighten 
the  Gentiles;  its  influence  radiated  and  created  other 
centres  before  it  shrunk  up  to  a  local  field.  The  Welsh 
love  of  learning  passed  in  invisible  currents  further  and 
further  from  its  central  dynamo.  A  few  examples  must 
suffice :  The  Pegues,  Gillespies,  and  Terrells  were  among 
the  founders  of  the  Society  in  1777-8.  William  Terrell 
did  not  survive  the  war,  but  one  of  his  granddaughters 
became  the  mother  of  James  Henley  Thornwell,  who, 
on  account  of  his  widowed  mother's  poverty,  was  edu- 
cated by  her  friends.  Five  denominations  contributed 
to  the  making  of  the  young  man.  A  Welsh  Baptist 
mother  gave  him  brains;  one  of  his  first  teachers  was  a 
Catholic;  a  good  Methodist,  Malachi  Pegues,  furnished 
him  board  at  a  country  school;  two  large-hearted  Epis- 

312 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

copalians  of  Cheraw  educated  him  at  the  South  Caro- 
lina College,  the  Presbyterians  provided  him  a  pulpit 
to  grow  in  and  a  wife,  Miss  Nancy  White  Witherspoon. 
He  became  president  of  the  college  and  was  regarded 
by  many  as  equal  to  McDuffie  in  eloquence  and  to 
Calhoun  in  intellect.  He  was  a  true  patriot  in  his 
love  of  South  Carolina  and  especially  of  the  Pee  Dee,  as 
is  made  manifest  in  Palmer's  Life  and  Letters  of  Thorn- 
well.  One  of  the  freak  results  of  the  war  between  the 
states  has  been  the  oblivion  into  which  the  ethical  and 
political  writings  of  such  men  as  Thornwell  and  Lieber 
have  passed.  They  were  once  luminaries  at  the  State 
College,  with  no  equals  to-day,  North  or  South.  In  the 
same  decade  but  a  few  years  later  than  Thornwell, 
Alexander  Gregg  represented  the  Pee  Dee  section  as  a 
student.  He  was  a  native  of  Society  Hill,  felt  its 
assimilating  forces,  imbibed  its  spirit,  graduated  at  the 
college  in  1838,  and  became  an  Episcopal  rector  in 
1846,  and  served  for  thirteen  years  the  historic  St. 
David's  Church  at  Cheraw.  He  took  a  lively  interest 
in  the  cause  of  education  and  became  an  active  member 
of  the  Academic  Society  and  Lyceum.  He  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  University  of  the  South,  and  be- 
came a  faithful  and  influential  member  of  the  board, 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  ways  and  means,  and 
finally  Chancellor  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  trus- 
tees. He  exemplified  in  his  life  the  same  love  of  learn- 
ing which  he  inherited  and  traced  to  its  source  in  his 
history  of  the  Old  Cheraws.  His  biographer,  Noll, 
represents  him  as  considering  the  work  of  education 
indispensable  to  any  good  work. 

The  Pee  Dee  flowed  on  in  its  ancient  channel,  but 
that  other  stream  of  beneficence  which  had  its  springs 

313 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

in  1777  had  been  tapped  by  irrigation  canals,  which 
led  off,  one  to  fructify  Furman  University  and  the 
Seminary,  another  to  water  the  University  of  the  South, 
another  to  vivify  the  State  College  and  still  other 
smaller  rills,  into  churches,  schools,  and  localities,  in 
the  persons  of  cultured  emigrants,  in  places  as  far  apart 
as  Baltimore  and  San  Francisco;  but  the  bed  which 
extended  through  the  Welsh  Neck  Association  appeared 
to  be  nearly  dry  for  a  generation  after  Sherman's  tran- 
sit. There  was  to  be  sure  liberality  such  as  found 
expression  through  established  channels,  as  men  grad- 
ually emerged  from  the  general  desolation;  but  there 
was  no  revival  of  interest  in  the  establishment  of  local 
private  schools.  The  state  had  stepped  in  with  its  free 
schools  and  made  less  need  and  room  for  such  insti- 
tutions. The  Welsh  community  had  in  its  early  ex- 
posed situation  and  manly  self-reliance  grown  up  to 
be  a  government  within  the  government,  and  put  its 
seal  of  approval  upon  education  of  the  community  by 
the  community  as  a  private  enterprise.  And  now  in 
this  recuperating  generation,  this  ennobling  character- 
istic appeared  to  be  effaced  or  to  have  gone  with  slavery 
and  other  ante-bellum  non-essentials,  until  1894,  when 
the  Welsh  Neck  High  School  at  Hartsville  was  organ- 
ized. It  was  conducted  as  a  High  School  fourteen 
years,  under  Associational  control  and  then  changed  in- 
to the  Coker  College  for  Women.  Its  grounds  in  the 
heart  of  Hartsville  and  its  small  endowment  went  over 
to  the  college  which  has  been  in  operation  eight  years. 
Since  its  inception  it  has  been  marching  to  the  front 
rank  of  colleges  in  the  state,  growing  steadily  in  patro- 
nage, in  its  faculty,  in  its  buildings  with  latest  equip- 
ments, and  in  its  active  endowment.     It  is  an  indige- 

314 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

nous  institution  whose  eponyme  (Maj.  James  Lide 
Coker)  is  the  dynamic  force  behind  its  surprising 
growth.  The  value  of  the  plant  and  endowment 
places  it  financially  at  the  head  of  all  the  Female  Col- 
leges not  supported  by  the  state;  and  as  to  productive 
endowment  it  is  scarcely  behind  the  foremost  of  the 
male  colleges.  With  all  that  it  stands  for,  the  College 
is  more  appropriate  than  a  shaft  of  Parian  marble  as  a 
monument  in  honor  of  the  men  who  laid  the  early 
educational  foundations,  and  of  their  successors,  who, 
like  the  runners  in  the  torch  race,  received  the  light 
and  handed  it  to  the  next  generation,  and,  not  least  of 
all,  of  the  founder,  who  in  the  exercise  of  the  utmost 
freedom  of  his  own  will,  has  brought  to  pass  the  planned 
but  unrealized  design  of  his  earlier  contemporaries  in 
the  field  of  education. 

Marlboro,  Chesterfield,  and  Darlington  Districts  be- 
came in  the  middle  and  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  a  melting-pot  of  five  or  six  races.  There  came 
forth  from  the  mint  a  blended  people,  bearing  an  image 
and  superscription  that  was  not  to  be  erased  by  the 
flight  of  time.  Ab  uno  disce  omnes,  from  one  learn  all. 
From  that  one  who  was  favored  by  nature  and  by  art 
in  the  formative  period  of  the  country  and  multiplied 
himself  in  various  useful  pursuits,  learn  that  his  com- 
patriots imbued  with  similar  good  principles  differed 
from  him  and  from  one  another  only  in  degree,  as  they 
pushed  or  push  with  energy  and  intelligence  their  pri- 
vate operations  and,  with  equal  readiness,  initiate  or 
join  in  schemes  of  cooperation  for  social  improvement. 

Sources:  A  bulletin,  Founder's  Day,  of  the  State 
University;  Minutes  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention, 

315 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

and  the  Welsh  Neck  Association,  Noll's  Biography  of 
Bishop  Gregg,  Palmer's  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  Thorn- 
well,  and  the  traditions  of  the  Pee  Dee,  some  records 
of  the  Pee  Dee  Historical  Society,  Mr.  Bright  William- 
son, Secretary. 


316 


APPENDIX 

LETTERS 

Rocky  River  Springs,  7  Sept.,  1828. 
My  Dear  Sir:  You  have  done  me  a  great  favour  by  your  letter  of 
the  24th  ulto.  which  came  to  hand  this  day,  and  for  which  I  thank 
you  heartily.  Four  days  since  on  the  3rd  I  received  the  invitation 
to  the  Sumter  dinner  and  immediately  answered  it.  I  have  been  so 
much  indisposed  for  several  weeks  that  I  have  lost  almost  all  my 
spirits  &  animation,  &  fearing  I  should  not  be  able  to  attend  was 
most  reluctantly  obliged  to  decline,  with  a  determination,  however, 
to  go  if  I  could.  I  said  truly  to  the  committee  that  nothing  but  sick- 
ness could  have  kept  me  from  them.  The  answer  is  rich,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  of  my  sentiments.  I  did  not  send  a  toast  but  will  take 
leave  to  write  another  letter  &  add  one,  as  much  in  point,  as  I  can. 
If  you  receive  it  in  time  (I  will  enclose  it  in  this)  you  will  be  pleased 
to  substitute  it  with  the  committee  &  destroy  the  one  sent  to  Sum- 
terville.  I  assure  you  my  heart  is  warmly  enlisted  in  the  cause  of 
which  I  feel  anything  but  dispair,  and  of  which  I  shall  be  delighted  to 
give  every  proof.  I  will  take  any  suggestions  of  how  I  may  be  service- 
able as  proofs  of  your  confidence  &  regard  and  pray  no  opportunity 
may  be  omitted. 

On  the  subject  of  the  letter  to  the  Union  folks,  it  will  take  a  great 
deal  of  harrasment  to  make  me  repent  it,  of  which  I  anticipate  not 
a  little.  I  had  seen  the  editorial  comments  (not  truly  editorial  I 
suppose)  just  time  enough  to  write  a  reply  on  the  day  I  received  the 
Sumter  invitation.  I  presume  the  editor  will  not  refuse  to  publish 
and  therefore  I  am  glad  I  have  written  it  because  it  will  convince 
you  perfectly  that  there  is  no  difference  between  us,  even  in  "detail." 
I  have  been  purposely  misrepresented  &  have  endeavoured  to  put 
my  views  in  such  a  shape  as  all  may  understand  me  as  I  really  meant 

317 


THE  LIFE  AND   LEGACY  OF 

to  be  understood.  It  now  requires  not  the  least  sacrifice  of  vanity 
too.  I  believe,  I  must  have  written,  obscurely  at  best  on  the  subject  of 
"the  majority";  but  blessed  be  God,  I  said  "the  majority";  and  no 
where  "a  majority  of  members  of  congress" — such  a  thought  never 
entered  my  mind,  and  I  would  even  yet  hope  it  was  the  glossings  of 
the  editor  that  gave  rise  in  your  mind  to  the  idea,  by  his  suggestions 
rather  than  deliberate  construction  of  what  I  had  written.  It  seems 
to  me  there  is  a  difference  as  wide,  as  obvious,  between  the  consider- 
ation, that  the  Tariff  laws  have  been  adopted  by  a  majority;  and  the 
confidence  of  relief  from  "  the  majority  of  the  people  at  large"  on  whom 
I  declared  my  reliance.  So  far  however  as  the  tariff  itself  is  con- 
cerned and  not  meaning  to  include  possible  cases,  I  aver,  I  prefer  it 
to  disunion. 

I  would  reflect  deeply  and  weigh  thoroughly  every  word  I  utter,  if 
I  could  conceive  it  possible  (I  will  any  how  hereafter)  that  they  might 
have  a  bearing  on  you.  I  think  in  this  you  must,  for  once,  be  at  fault. 
It  is  however  every  way  satisfactory  that  I  have  sent  to  the  press 
already  such  an  explanation,  as  I  think  will  be  agreeable  to  you,  even 
on  that  score.  The  truth  is,  my  letter  was  written  with  more  haste 
than  any  man  ought  to  venture,  before  the  public,  but  it  was  to  be 
then  or  never. 

I  had  taken  a  very  different  view  from  what  you  seem  to  think  is 
expedient,  in  relation  to  the  election,  as  likely  to  be  affected  by  urging 
now,  on  the  people  the  machinations  of  the  agitators;  &  had  deter- 
mined to  push  the  subject,  rather  than  wait  "for  further  develop- 
ments of  the  motives  of  the  actors,"  as  you  seem  to  recommend.  I 
will  cheerfully  abstain,  seeing  it  is  your  opinion,  we  ought.  As  a 
general  fact  I  consider  it  all  important  to  get  possession  of  the  public 
mind  first.  The  failures  I  have  seen  result  from  procrastination 
alone  have  carried  me  to  this  conclusion.  When  I  see  my  enemy  in 
force,  my  first  impulse  is  to  attack.  It  is  but  a  very  short  space  before 
the  battle  must  be  fought.  It  sometimes  takes  a  much  longer  period 
to  put  the  public  in  possession  of  facts,  concerning  which  not  half  the 
exertion  is  made  to  deceive  as  will  be  on  the  present  occasion.  But  I 
say  again,  I  yield  my  opinion  cheerfully  seeing  that  you  who  are  most 
immediately  interested  think  otherwise.  Do  me  the  favour  to  state 
the  grounds  on  which  this  opinion  is  formed. 

I  submit  the  enclosed  letter  perfectly  to  your  discretion — it  is  in- 
tended for  your  service  solely.     If  you  like  to  substitute  it  for  the 

318 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

other,  or  alter,  correct  or  suppress  it  wholly  according  to  your  own 
judgment.  I  love,  like  Prince  Murat  in  his  best  days,  to  lead  the 
charge,  I  am  a  miserable  poor  hand  at  defence. 

God  bless,  prosper  and  keep  you  assured  of  the  friendship  of 

David  R.  Williams. 

To  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  Camden,  South  Carolina. 

Mrs.  Miller  is  requested  to  send  on  this  letter  if  Mr.  Miller  has  left 
home  for  Sumterville  before  it  reaches  her. 

Columbia,  17  Sept.,  1828. 

Dear  Miller:  Hearing  from  the  Governor  that  you  would  be  at 
his  house  to-morrow  I  enclose  you  a  letter  I  have  written  to  Gen. 
Williams.  Pray  read  it  and  if  you  discover  anything  in  it  that  is 
improper  strike  it  out  and  amend.  I  wish  you  to  back  it  with  a  letter 
also,  and  one  from  the  Governor,  and  then  I  think  our  party  may  all 
be  called  back  again  to  the  old  fold  of  the  Telescope.  It  would  be 
a  pity  that  Gen.  Williams  should  labour  under  a  mistake  either  as 
to  his  friends  here  or  as  to  Withers'  character.  His  last  letter  to  the 
editor  if  published  must  produce  an  irreparable  breach  between  the 
general  and  his  friends  in  Columbia.  I  consider  it  a  personal  attack 
upon  all  the  Columbia  coterie,  but  more  particularly  upon  Preston 
and  myself.  About  that  I  care  not  one  cent,  except  that  it  must 
separate  us  for  ever  from  Gen.  Williams,  to  whom  I  am  under 
personal  obligations,  as  you  well  know.  I  am  the  last  man  that  would 
wish  to  throw  them  off,  but  my  rule  has  always  been  to  resist  every 
attack. 

You  of  course  will  consult  with  the  Governor  about  the  course 
best  to  be  pursued  in  this  unfortunate  matter.  You  will  oblige  me 
then  to  direct  my  letter  to  the  place  in  North  Carolina,  where  Gen. 
Williams  is,  and  to  seal  my  letter  and  send  it  with  yours  and  the 
Governor's  to  the  General. 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

D.  J.  McCord. 

To  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  or  Gov.  Taylor,  Rice  Creek  Springs. 

Rocky  River  Springs,  25th  Sept.,  1828. 
My  Dear  Sir:    Your  interesting  letter  of  the  14th  inst.  was  only 
a  moment  since  received;  with  it  the  Telescope  stating  that  my  reply 
was  withheld  by  the  person  who  had  the  disposition  of  it.     I  am  with- 

319 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

out  any  other  intelligence  concerning  it.    You  do  not  more  regret 
that  Withers  and  myself  should  come  in  conflict  than  I  do,  and  prob- 
ably as  I  am  as  yet  the  only  "wounded  pigeon"  we  may  not.     I  am 
willing  to  bear  and  forebear,  and  so  far  as  expediency  is  concerned  to 
yield  openly  and  freely;  as  to  principle  not  a  hair,  and  no  real  friend 
would  either  ask  or  expect  it.    When  I  saw  the  first  comments  on 
my  letter  in  the  Telescope,  my  first  object  was  to  know  who  was  the 
editor.    At  the  Southern  Radical  Office  I  was  told  a  very  different 
man,  indeed  from  Withers,  was.     I  did  not  in  the  least  doubt  the 
information  and  wrote  my  reply.    On  the  18th  Witherspoon  came 
up  and  to  my  astonishment  and  regret  told  me  Mr.  Withers  was.     I 
immediately  sat  down,  I  wrote  to  Taylor  informing  him  of  my  error 
and  requested  him  to  say  to  Mr.  Withers  for  me  that  portion  of  my 
reply  which  referred  to  the  editor  was  written  under  false  informa- 
tion, and  that  of  course  nothing  which  it  contained  could  mean  him, 
etc.     I  also  wrote  to  Smith  requesting  him  to  say  anything  that 
would  satisfy  Mr.  Withers  that  such  were  the  facts.     If  I  know  myself 
I  would  rather  chop  my  right  hand  off  than  use  it  to  assail  a  virtuous 
man.    Or  if  having  so  used  it  by  mistake,  would  despise  myself  if  I 
did  not  promptly  do  him  ample  justice.    This  you  will  understand 
was  done  before  any  notice  in  the  Telescope.     I  have  supposed  some 
of  your  friends,  and  possibly  mine  also,  may  have  induced  Taylor 
to  delay  the  publication  because  of  the  consequence  of  my  seeming 
attack  of  Withers.     Probably  some  for  a  very  different  reason,  that 
my  views  make  against  them,  and  possibly  some  because  1  attack  in 
it  the  "custom  house  and  free  port  gentry."     I  have  already  written 
to  Taylor  to  say,  no  matter  from  what  consideration  he  may  have 
acted,  I  assure  him  I  am  well  pleased;  particular,  as  I  consider  it 
fortunate  I  should  not  appear  to  be  in  conflict  with  Withers  and  also 
if  any  consideration  looking  to  your  interest  be  the  cause  I  have  also 
added.    As  the  reply  was  noticed  something  ought  to  be  said  of  its 
disposition  and  that  it  would  be  acceptable  to  me  to  suppress  it  wholly 
on  Mr.  Withers  stating  his  conviction  that  I  did  not  mean  the  odious 
construction  which  he  had  put  on  it,  in  relation  to  a  reference  of  our 
constitutional  rights  to  a  majority  of  "members  of  congress"  for  de- 
cision— and  being  indisposed  to  discussion  by  the  Legislature  and 
wanting  confidence  in  it,  and  which  he  might  connect  with  an  allusion 
to  my  having  written  the  reply,  under  an  impression  that  a  very  dif- 
ferent person  from  himself  was  the  editor  and  that  I  choose  not  to 

320 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

appear  as  assailing  him  when,  in  truth,  I  meant  another  person  en- 
tirely different.  You  seem  also  to  act  under  an  impression  that  I 
am  adverse  to  the  Legislature  discussing  the  subject,  not  so.  I  only 
am  opposed  to  the  people  memorializing  the  Legislature  under  strong 
excitement — to  their  being  driven  from  their  own  judgment  and  dis- 
cretion by  the  vehemence  &  passion  which  was  then  running  riot 
over  the  state. 

When  I  assure  you  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  act  in  conformity  with 
the  views  you  have  suggested  it  is  because  I  will  not  jeopardise  your 
interest  by  a  course  which  you  think  will  have  that  tendency  and 
thereby  give  the  best  proof  I  can  that  on  questions  of  expediency  I 
will  give  freely  for  the  benefit  of  our  party,  without  asking  anything: 
but  I  know  you  will  forgive  me  when  I  say  I  am  perfectly  convinced 
your  first  impressions  were  much  more  correct,  namely,  to  put  your 
election  and  our  party  on  the  broad  question  of  Union,  rather  than 
to  keep  open  the  question.  This  may  and  does  indeed  suit  the  views 
of  gentlemen  who  have  committed  themselves,  and  will  not  frankly 
back  out  as  become  some  of  the  Columbia  politicians;  and  our  good 
friend  Harrison  may,  without  knowing  it,  be  influenced  by  the  situ- 
ation of  his  immediate  neighbors.  My  head  to  a  brass  button  that 
1  am  not  too  moderate  in  my  views  hereafter,  if  indeed,  as  I  believe 
at  this  moment  I  may  be.  Individuals  and  large  public  gatherings 
may  say  and  do  any  foolish  and  passionate  act,  without  any  but 
relative  commitment;  but  when  the  Legislature  shall  begin  to  act, 
then  it  is  that  the  awful  responsibility  attaches;  and  only  till  then  do 
the  important  questions  press  for  an  answer — what  is  the  power? — 
what  ought  to  be  the  mode  of  action? — I  can  conceive  of  no  course  of 
resistance,  of  coercion  (I  mean)  by  the  Legislature  that,  is  not  as 
great  a  violation  of  the  constitution  as  the  tariff  itself;  hence,  the 
Legislature  can't  avoid  the  question  of  Union  and  therefore  it  would 
have  been  better  for  the  radicals  to  assume  it  thereby  giving  impulse 
and  influence,  where  they  must  ultimately  receive  it.  I  do  not  take 
the  Mercury.  I  had  heard  of  "  Fair  Play"  when  I  wrote  the  letter 
which  has  given  you  satisfaction  and  therein  is  my  entire  my  best 
reward. 

The  pieces  in  the  Mercury  may  be  intended  to  bear  as  you  surmise, 
I  think  however  they  have  a  double  object,  if  they  have  the  one  you 
allude  to.  I  conceive  they  are  more  personal,  as  1  do  not  doubt,  the 
questions  that  were  propounded  to  me  last  session  about  opposing 

321 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

Hayne  may  have  been  intimated  to  more  persons  that  we  know  of. 
I  care  not  to  see  them,  because  I  sat  out  determined  to  answer  noth- 
ing of  invective.  I  had  a  public  object.  I  will  not  mix  my  private 
matters  with  it.  My  principles  as  assailed  in  the  Telescope  apper- 
tained to  the  first  and  not  the  last;  besides  I  feel  sustained  by  the 
same  two  great  principles  that  have  been  cardinal  points  to  me  since 
the  first  moment  that  I  had  a  political  principle,  i.  e.  I  believe  the 
people  are  competent  to  self-government  and  everything  growing  out 
of  it.  I  never  would  act  selfishly  on  a  public  question,  in  other  words, 
"honesty  is  the  best  policy" —  For  myself  altho'  I  do  tremble  before 
the  tremendous  power  of  the  press,  I  also  feel  that  the  people  will 
never  suffer  an  honest  man  to  be  ruined  by  it. 

It  is  very  true  that  we  pronounced  the  tariff  unconstitutional.  I 
do  so  still;  but  if  the  Legislature  can  do  nothing  by  way  of  resistance 
that  is  not  as  bad  or  worse,  it  is  better  again  to  ask  for  it's  repeal  and 
if  refused,  test  the  law,  no  matter  how  desperate  the  appearances,  and 
sit  down  under  the  decision.  What  my  dear  friend  can  the  Legis- 
lature do,  taking  for  granted  it  will  not  fly  the  Union?  Pray  answer 
this. 

Your  account  of  the  Sumter  dinner  was  very  interesting.  Your 
speech  much  more  so.  It  is  a  delightful  effort.  It  will  do  you  in- 
finite good.  I  am  glad  you  spoke  of  the  heinous  doctrine  of  a  major- 
ity of  "members  of  congress."  I  take  all  that  about  Jackson  to  be  ad 
captandum,  and  it  is  fair.  I  think  any  man  no  better  than  wild  who 
looks  for  a  repeal  of  the  tariff  from  him,  or  any  other  substantial 
good  to  us.  He  may  probably  purge  some  of  the  offices  and  break 
the  back  of  a  few  persons  who  have  rendered  themselves  obnoxious 
during  the  canvass;  but  as  to  any  great  and  reforming  policy  as  abid- 
ing good  I  look  for  none  to  the  Union,  much  less  to  us  who  are  so 
feeble  in  point  of  members.  I  begin  to  doubt  of  his  election  and  if 
his  mad  friends  among  us,  can,  they  will  be  the  cause  of  his  defeat. 
If  elected,  his  term  will  be  another  tissue  of  electioneering  for  the  next 
four  years.  As  he  must  administer  in  leading  strings  and  the  man 
Van  Buren  I  have  conjectured,  whom  he  shall  establish  in  the  line  of 
safe  precedence  will  use  all  the  influence  of  the  government  to  provide 
for  himself.     But  enough  of  prophesying. 

I  notice  your  message  from  McCord,  Preston  &  Withers.  His 
mind  must  be  that  of  a  brute  who  is  indifferent  to  the  good  will  and 
esteem  of  his  fellow  men.    Of  a  certainty  I  am  particularly  grateful 

322 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

for  the  esteem  of  such  men.  Of  McCord  I  know  but  little  and  that 
is  much  in  his  favour.  Of  Preston's  splendid  powers  and  I  believe 
virtuous  views  I  am  an  ardent  admirer.  Of  Mr.  Withers  I  know  still 
less,  but  had  formed  a  flattering  hope  of  his  talents  and  principles 
from  his  display  when  he  graduated,  and  from  understanding  he  was 
high  in  the  esteem  of  our  friend  Smith.  Although  he  handled  my 
letter  in  a  strain  that  to  me  is  much  at  variance  from  anything  per- 
taining to  veneration  of  its  author,  I  protest  before  God  it  has  left 
not  the  slightest  resentment.  But  Mr.  Withers  did  another  act 
which  may  have  escaped  your  notice,  but  which  penetrated  deep 
and  wounded  me  to  the  heart's  core.  He  also  alluded  to  me  after 
he  had  had  the  last  word,  designing  to  hold  me  up  as  the  just  subject 
of  ridicule  and  intimated  that  I  had  shaped  my  course  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Gales  and  Seaton.*  The  discrepance  between  such  a  sug- 
gestion and  high  veneration  can  be  reconciled  only  by  supposing  Mr. 
Withers  has  now  changed  his  mind,  from  what  it  was  when  he  so 
intimated,  and  I  am  free  so  to  believe.  It  cost  me  all  the  philosophy 
I  could  master  to  submit  to  this,  but  I  did  and  in  silence,  and  am  glad 
that  I  had  enough  to  suppress  the  resentment  I  at  the  moment  was 
oppressed  with. 

I  think  it  would  be  well  to  hear  something  on  the  other  side  before 
we  take  for  granted  that  Taylor  is  too  obstinate.  It  seems  to  me  he 
went  too  far  in  authorizing  the  Telescope  to  "draw  back"  the  best 
part  of  his  4th  of  July  dinner  speech — he  must  have  done  so  for  some 
motive,  like  yielding  to  others.  I  suspect,  there  is  a  radical  difference 
between  Taylor  and  some  who  complain.  I  know  he  considers  your 
election  paramount  to  all  questions,  and  believe  will  yield  to  procure 
it,  all  that  he  can  be  made  sensible  will  tend  to  it.  I  write,  however, 
wholly  without  any  knowledge  of  what  may  have  lately  happened. 
I  take  the  allusion  to  Smith's  differing  with  me  in  good  part.  I  wish 
you  had  stated  what  it  is  he  thinks  the  Legislature  can  do — for  there 
it  is  that  my  mind  is  wholly  at  fault.  I  mean  in  the  shape  of  resist- 
ance. I  do  school  myself  closely  when  I  find  I  am  in  a  tract  which, 
the  judgment  of  my  friends  forbid  to  them — I  distrust  it  greatly  when 
I  differ  from  him  and  a  few  others.  I  believe  firmly  that  the  peace 
and  prosperity  of  our  country  has  been  jeopardized.  I  thought  some 
man  ought  to  throw  himself  into  the  breach,  to  stay  the  madness  of  our 

•Gales  and  Seaton,  editors  of  the  National  Intelligencer. 

323 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

career — to  make  men  think.  I  was  willing  to  be  the  scapegoat  of 
the  sins  of  the  times;  for  you  may  be  sure  1  was  not  so  heedless  as 
not  to  see  I  should  be  switched  and  skinned  if  not  fall  a  temporary 
sacrifice.  1  am  done  with  public  life.  I  therefore  was  the  more 
willing  &  1  could  do  good  thus  to  devote  myself  to  "self-immola- 
tion." To  do  this  in  the  best  way  is  to  hearken  to  the  voice  of  friendly 
advice,  and  I  hope  I  have  proved  it  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  do,  on  all 
occasions. 

God  bless  you  and  yours 

David  R.  Williams. 

P.  S.     Pray  answer  what  can  the  Legislature  do?     I  will  write  to 
Colonel  Rees. 

The  Hon.  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Camden,  S.  C. 


Rocky  River  Springs,  ist  Oct.,  1828. 

My  Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  the  19th  ulto.  from  Rice  Creek  was 
sent  to  me  last  evening  from  my  residence.  One  from  Taylor  and 
one  from  McCord.  My  last  to  you  has  put  you  in  full  possession  of 
what  1  had  done  about  my  second  letter  and  1  do  not  doubt  has  given 
you  perfect  satisfaction  on  the  subject  of  conflict  between  Withers 
and  me,  endangered  by  the  misinformation  given  me  by  one  of  the 
Editors  of  the  Southern  Radical.  In  reply  to  McCord's  letter,  read 
by  you,  I  have  written  to  him  thanking  him  for  the  good  office  he  in- 
tended me,  in  his  attempts  to  prevent  collision  between  me  and 
Withers;  and  endeavoring  to  remove,  so  far  as  I  can  understand  him, 
every  distrust  on  his  part  and  Preston's — and  as  the  Governor  was 
off,  before  my  letter  could  have  been  received,  desired  he  would  apply 
to  Mrs.  Taylor  for  them,  and  make  the  explanation  to  Withers  which 
I  have  before  informed  you  of,  and  to  scrutinize  a  third  and  last  ad- 
dress of  mine  to  the  public — that  if  he,  or  if  Withers  thought  there 
was  anything  in  it  which  could  injure  you,  or  which  could  be  offensive 
to  my  Columbia  friends  to  stay  the  publication  and  communicate 
frankly  their  objections.  In  this  third  letter  I  have  stated  the  course 
I  think  the  Legislature  ought  to  adopt,  and  have  examined  freely 
McDuffie's  "excise  system." 

But  there  is  new  matter  for  reconcilation  in  McCord's  letter — and 
it  would  seem,  drawing  my  teeth  will  have  no  effect  to  make  my 
existence  consistent  with  the  public  safety.     I  verily  believe  there 

324 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

is  no  way  left  but  to  chain  me  up  by  a  very  short  tether.  I  have 
broke  in  to  the  public  prints,  under  the  most  solemn  fears.  I  will 
hasten  to  break  out  of  them;  for  it  would  seem,  if  I  succeed  in  my 
object  to  quiet  the  public  excitement,  I  am  likely  to  excite  my  friends 
against  myself,  at  least  to  give  them  much  trouble.  I  have  en- 
deavored by  the  most  frank  and  cordial  explanation  to  remove  all 
distrust  from  McCord  and  Preston.  You  saw  the  positive  assump- 
tion in  McCord's  letter  that,  I  could  only  mean  him  and  Preston.  I 
will  state  for  your  satisfaction  and  my  own  justification  on  what 
it  is  they  have  founded  my  supposed  intention  to  assail  them.  God 
knows  neither  they  nor  any  other  individual,  but  the  assemblage  of 
fine  writers  and  men  of  science  and  literature  in  Columbia  which 
give  tone  and  character  to  much  of  the  reputation  of  the  State  in 
the  walks  of  literature  and  belle  letters  that  I  alluded.  In  fact  I 
meant  exactly  what  I  said  and  nothing  else.  I  was  treating  in  my 
reply  of  the  misunderstanding,  perhaps  I  might  have  also  called  it 
misstatement  of  my  principles  and  opinions  which  I  said  alone  arose 
"from  his  own  wrong-headed  construction,  excuse  the  term  Sir,  I  am 
a  plain  man;  if  it  be  in  violation  of  the  good  taste  of  the  political 
beau  monde  of  the  capitol,  attribute  it  to  my  rusticity  and  not  to  a 
disposition  to  be  rude."  The  gentlemen  translated  me,  for  it  has 
become  clear,  I  have  some  other  meaning  in  all  I  say  but  that  which 
lies  on  the  surface,  according  to  the  feelings  of  suspicion,  with  which 
Mr.  Withers  comments  had  jaundiced  my  letter.  I  have  tried  to 
satisfy  both. 

I  have  a  very  high  opinion  both  of  Harrison  and  his  principles  and 
judgment  and  therefore,  would  treat  his  opinion  with  deference  and 
respect.  Of  the  operation  of  my  own  moderate  views  against  you  I 
can  only  say,  I  would  deeply  lament.  Harrison  has  suggested  a  very 
easy  remedy,  and  which  goes  to  lighten  the  burthen  of  my  feelings: 
but  there  is  a  matter  at  the  bottom  which,  I  wish  he  had  touched 
definitely — what  are  those  stronger  measures  he  would  have  you  ad- 
vocate? I  have  asked  you  myself  before.  I  have  asked  the  public. 
I  have  asked  everybody  with  whom  I  have  conversed — excise,  excise, 
excise,  with  the  monotony  of  the  wipperwill,  they  all  reply.  I  shall 
not  suspect  you  of  advocating  such  "ineffable"  folly;  can  it  be  possible 
Harrison  does?  You  remember  what  you  said  before,  about  Dr. 
Cooper.  It  has  scarcely  ever  been  out  of  my  mind  since.  If  it  be 
true  and  I  have  strong  ground  to  believe  it,  I  am  pondering,  what  an 

325 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

honest  man  ought  to  do  in  my  situation.     If  he  preaches  moderation, 
what  will  Harrison  do?  for  he  seems  alive  to  his  situation. 

According  to  your  intimation  I  have  written  to  Col.  Reese — 
authorized  him  to  use  my  name.  I  did  not  say  publish — but  I 
meant  it,  if  he  wished  it — I  contradicted  the  aspersion  of  your  seeking 
to  have  your  name  brought  out  peremptorily;  from  personal  knowl- 
edge that  you  endeavored  to  bring  out  Evans — that  Robinson  and 
myself  were  requested  to  endeavor  to  reconcile  the  wishes  of  all 
yours  and  his  friends,  that  we  had  not  the  least  difficulty  to  do  so; 
for  that,  the  moment  Evans  heard  your  name  had  been  mentioned, 
positively  insisted  you  should  be  supported,  notwithstanding  we 
assured  him  he  would  be  supported  by  the  whole  party. 

I  need  not  add  I  should  not  have  hesitated  a  moment  to  withdraw 
my  letter  agreeably  to  your  request,  if  it  had  not  already  been  so  dis- 
posed of,  relying  soly  and  entirely  on  Mr.  Withers'  sense  of  justice 
to  do  what  was  right  and  proper  in  the  case. 

Yours  sincerely  and  affectionately, 
D.  R.  Williams. 

The  Horible  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Camden,  S.  C. 

Silver  Glade,  Pendleton,  n  Oct.,  1828. 

Dear  Sir:  I  received  your  favour  of  the  14th  ulto.  I  am  now  able 
to  inform  you  with  certainty  that  Mr.  Hamilton  will  not  be  a  can- 
didate. He  has,  all  at  once,  become  very  patriotic,  for  he  says  that 
a  division  at  the  present  crisis  is  to  be  depricated,  and  therefore  he 
will  not  enter  the  lists.  Poor  old  Edgefield  has  not  been  responded 
to  from  any  quarter. 

We  had  an  anti-tariff  meeting  here  and  entered  into  resolutions 
which  you  will  see  in  due  time.  Mr.  Davis  and  Col.  Robt.  Hayne 
addressed  the  meeting.  Mr.  Hayne  said  nothing  new,  but  what 
he  did  say  was  well  said,  and  very  well  received. 

I  do  not  think  that  Hayne  can  be  beaten  at  present.  General 
Williams  was,  perhaps,  the  only  man  on  the  Radical  Side  that^could 
have  run  against  him  and  he  is  laid  up  in  Ordinary.* 

I  am  dear  Sir  yours 

Tho.  Harrison. 

Hon.  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Camden,  South  Carolina. 

*A  mountaineer  uses  a  nautical  term — a  ship  laid  up,  out  of  commission. 

326 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Society  Hill,  25  th  October,  1 828. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  use  the  liberty  allowed  me  to  enclose  the  letter 
of  Judge  Smith  which  you  will  present,  should  he  go  to  Columbia; 
if  not,  be  so  good  as  to  drop  it  in  the  Post  Office  after  adding 
York  Court  House  to  the  direction.  I  have  meditated  very 
solemnly  on  the  information  relative  to  the  Washington  doings, 
which  I  made  known  to  you  and  your  opinions  thereon  and 
have  concluded  not  to  promulgate  them  unless  driven  to  the  wall 
for  defence.  This  determination  I  have  made  known  to  Judge 
Smith  in  the  enclosed  letter.  Should  I  be  assailed  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  justify  it  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  state  the  whole  case  over  my 
name. 

The  various  matters  which  we  communed  on  at  Darlington  have 
deeply  engaged  my  feelings  since.  I  rejoice  with  surpassing  delight 
that  the  prospect  is  so  bright  before  us  in  relation  to  your  election. 
God  forbid  that  a  single  shadow  should  pass  over  it.  This  for  your 
sake  and  the  true  interest  of  the  country  I  most  ardently  pray.  On 
my  own  affairs  I  am  not  wholly  unassailed  by  anxieties,  but  if  my 
own  wishes  are  known  to  myself,  I  would  infinitely  rather  be  made 
the  target  for  every  scoundrel's  aim,  than  any  friend  I  have  should 
put  anything  at  hazard.  I  am  perfectly  confident  I  cannot  be  ulti- 
mately injured,  in  the  opinion  of  my  friends  and  the  public,  and  am 
very  willing  to  suffer  for  a  season  rather  than  they  should  for  a 
moment  under  present  circumstances.  Your  conversation  and 
Wither's  promises  have  induced  me  to  look  again  to  the  2nd  sec.  of 
the  3rd  article  of  the  constitution.  I  have  been  made  to  swear  so 
often  to  support  the  constitution  I  begin  to  fear  my  mind  starts  at 
shaddows  when  there  is  no  substance  to  throw  one  on  it's  meditations. 
I  hope  Mr.  W.  will  be  able  to  convince  me  of  my  error,  if  I  am  in 
one  and  I  confess  my  leaning  is  to  be  brought  over  to  your's  and 
Smith's  opinions.  While  we  belong  to  the  Union  we  must  obey  the 
constitution  in  all  its  parts;  not  those  requirements  only  which  we 
approve,  but  those  also  which  we  dislike,  is  it  our  duty  to  obey.  I 
have  come  moreover  to  this  opinion  that,  without  a  violation  of  the 
oath  taken  by  the  members  of  the  legislature,  I  do  not  see  how  they 
can  resist  at  all,  except  by  calling  a  convention.  We  have  signed, 
sealed  and  delivered  and  are  as  much  bound  to  the  U.  S.  constitution 
as  to  our  own.  Let  the  Legislature  then  in  its  next  meeting  confine 
itself  to  one  system  of  measures;  to  argument,  protest  and  memorial, 

327 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

if  these  fail,  we  shall  gain  time  and  I  think  allies  to  support  those  of 
another  character  to  be  hereafter  decided  on. 

1  am  in  much  haste  but  under  all  circumstances  your  sincere  and 
devoted  friend,  David  R.  Williams. 

To  SUphen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  Camden,  South  Carolina. 

Society  Hill,  yd  Nov.,  1828. 

My  Dear  Sir:  You  probably  have  been  informed  of  my  visit  to 
Charleston.  I  found  it's  folks  greatly  excited  by  the  thousand  re- 
ports of  Mr.  Mitchell  about  the  disunion  caucus.*  1  left  them  full  of 
anxiety  for  Hayne's  letter  which  was  generally  known  had  been  sent 
to  Georgetown  for  publication.  The  continued  denials  of  the  Mer- 
cury through  the  summer  and  Col.  Drayton's  refusal  to  answer  leave 
much  fretful  anxiety  and  distrust  on  the  minds  of  many.  We  shall 
know  more  when  Mitchell  comes  out.  His  opponents  take  the  pre- 
cise course  you  predicted. 

I  believe  Wilson  is  friendly  to  Hayne's  election  let  who  will  oppose 
him.  No  one  could  say  Hamilton  was  not  a  candidate  and  his  long 
speech  was  wholly  without  a  hint.  I  believe  he  waits  for  events. 
Tis  best  to  be  up  and  a  doing  in  good  earnestness  &  care.  The 
moderate  men  are  multiplying  fast.  Georgia  will  not  vote  for  Cal- 
houn but  will  bring  forward  Old  Macon — what  say  you?  Will  the 
Telescope  treat  kindly  any  attempt  to  support  the  old  saint  and 
patriot?  Pray  find  out,  and  of  all  things  let  me  hear  freely  from 
you  about  it.  Have  any  new  events  happened — can  you  hint  any 
employment  for  me  in  your  own  affair.  Dr.  Cooper  was  greatly 
courted  when  in  Charleston  and  assisted,  say  some,  in  their  deliber- 
ations at  the  guard  house.  I  do  not  doubt  he  is  for  Hamilton.  I 
carried  my  head  very  high  about  the  governor's  election — turned  up 
my  nose  and  spoke  scornfully  of  any  chance  of  opposition  that  could 
be  excited  in  any  quarter  or  on  any  subject,  and  prayed  vehemently 
that  Hamilton  might  offer.  If  Hayne  hears  half  I  said,  and  I  believe 
he  will  all,  he  will  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  prevent  opposition  to 
you. 

God  bless  you  Yours  sincerely 

David  R.  Williams. 

To  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  Camden,  South  Carolina. 

*About  the  disunion  caucus,  see  Perry's  "Reminiscences,"  p.  200,  and  the  curious 
developments  in  the  Charleston  papers,  1828. 

328 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Society  Hill,  gtb  November,  1828. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  felt  some  anxiety  to  hear  from  you  since 
my  last  request  to  know  if  the  Telescope  will  allow  a  fair  attack  of 
Calhoun  and  an  equally  fair  advocacy  of  Macon.  I  fear  it  may 
not  and  now  more  so,  seeing,  altho'  cautioned  about  its  complacency 
towards  certain  men,  it  has  favoured  Major  Hamilton's  speech  at 
Marlborough  with  high  enconium  in  which  speech  in  my  poor  opinion 
there  are  two  or  three  assertions  utterly  untenable,  if  not  directly 
false. 

I  received  a  few  days  since  a  letter  from  Macon  in  which  he  says 
that  is  probably  the  last  letter  I  shall  ever  receive  franked  by  him.  I 
presume  he  is  about  to  surrender  his  public  trust  unto  the  hands  that 
confided  it  to  him.     I  am  very  sorry  indeed  for  this. 

This  morning  I  have  a  letter  from  Smith.  I  apprehend,  he  begins 
to  doubt  the  ground  he  has  taken  is  not  tenable,  at  least,  under 
present  circumstances,  not  desirable.  He  says  he  had  the  burthen 
of  writing  the  preambles  and  petitions  to  the  legislature,  asking  for 
the  exercise  of  the  taxing  power  and  had  determined  to  let  "those 
duties  die  a  natural  death,"  to  which  he  has  been  induced  probably 
from  understanding  that  a  certain  "monster  in  politics  was  incul- 
cating that  doctrine."  He  seems  to  doubt  whether  Hayne  can  be 
successfully  opposed,  unless  Mitchell  would  do  his  duty  to  himself 
and  country.  Mitchell  has  come  out — Drayton's  refusal  to  answer, 
has  given  a  strong  bias  against  certain  men;  but  unless  Drayton  will 
tell  the  truth,  1  see  no  chance  for  Mitchell.  The  Judge  seems  very 
confident  of  your  success — will  not  go  to  Columbia  under  that  belief, 
but  would  cheerfully  if  there  shall  be  any  doubt.  He  further  adds 
"endeavour  to  prevail  on  Miller  to  abandon  the  taxing  system."  I 
certainly  would  not  obtrude  my  opinion  on  you  whom  I  consider 
infinitely  abler  to  decide,  but  consider  it  a  matter  of  fair  dealing 
between  us,  to  let  you  know  what  is  the  opinion  of  the  Judge  now  on 
that  subject.  Permit  me  moreover  to  ask  you  to  read  and  think 
seriously  on  the  3rd  paragraph  of  the  8th  section  of  the  1st  article 
of  the  Constitution.  The  power  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign 
nations  is  not  more  exclusive  and  plenary  than  "among  the  several 
states"  if  so,  can  it  be  proper  to  attempt  to  counteract  that  power 
indirectly  which  cannot  be  done  directly?  This,  however,  is  wholly 
superfluous,  your  own  intelligent  and  inquiring  mind  is  amply  able 
of  itself  to  do  all  that  can  be  done  to  elicit  truth. 

329 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

What  is  on  foot  concerning  friend  Evans'  election,  rather  who  are 
likely  to  be  his  opponents?  I  understood  in  Charleston  that  Dunkin, 
who  had  felt  an  inkling  after  a  judgeship  had  been  induced  not  only 
to  yield  those  hopes,  but  also  to  step  aside  to  let  Mr.  Harper  feel 
his  strength  by  offering  for  speaker.  This  from  Wilson  who  is  said 
to  have  a  wish  for  a  judgeship  also  and  if  so,  it  may  explain  why  he 
should  have  become  friendly  to  Hayne's  election,  after  the  Sumter 
letter.    These  may  all  be  the  mere  ebulition  of  curiosity  and  anxiety. 

I  am  very  sorry  to  learn  that  the  old  radical  mess  have  "  desolved 
by  mutual  consent,"  and  shall  therefore  lose  much  of  the  pleasure  I 
anticipated  in  attending  the  meeting  of  the  trustees.  I  think  more- 
over it  is  yielding  to  the  whims  of  others  who  have  no  right  to  take 
umbrage  at  the  same  associations  which  they  practise  themselves. 

God  bless  &  prosper  you,     Your  friend, 

David  R.  Williams. 

To  Horible  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Camden,  S.  C. 


Union  Factory, 
Society  Hill,  $th  fan.   1829. 

My  Dear  Sir:  Altho'  I  may  be  the  very  last  of  your  political  and 
personal  friends  also  who  have  tendered  their  congratulations  to  you, 
on  your  appointment  to  so  elevated  an  office  as  you  now  fill,  I  yield 
to  none  of  them  a  greater  share  of  sincere  and  heartfelt  joy  at  the 
event,  if  indeed  all  of  them  together  do  so  much,  as  myself  alone. 
My  whole  heart  and  soul  was  never  before  so  much  engrossed  on  a 
subject  at  issue,  and  of  course  my  delight  is  unmixed  unmeasurable. 
I  feel  a  perfect  assurance  that  your  discharge  of  the  duties  devolved 
on  you  will  be  as  gratifying  to  your  friends  as  it  must  prove  honor- 
able to  yourself  and  beneficial  to  your  country  and  consider  myself 
as  honored  in  being  known  as  a  decided  well-wisher  to  your  success 
notwithstanding  I  cannot  consider  myself  as  having  aided  in  so  good 
a  work  farther  than  mere  wishes  could  go.      ... 

You  will  of  course  have  seen  that  the  result  of  our  Legislative 
proceedings  have  been  of  a  character  not  to  offend  me — on  the  whole, 
I  hope  even  you  will  now  consider  the  course  fortunate  at  least,  and 
if  you  yield  that  much,  we  will  not  dispute  about  it's  wisdom.  Thank 
God  the  two  governments  are  not  in  conflict  and  with  Jimmy  Madi- 
son's coup  de  grace  to  the  Calhoun  notion  on  the  subject,  I  think 

330 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

there  is  now  confident  reasons  to  hope  and  believe  they  will  all  be, 
on  the  tariff  at  least.    .    .    . 

On  the  subject  of  your  kind  and  friendly  letter  about  my  "manifold 
writer"  I  should  long  since  have  returned  you  my  thanks,  if  I  had  not 
considered  it  morally  certain  you  would  have  heard  from  Col.  Deas 
that  it  contained  no  money  when  taken  from  my  trunk.  I  pray 
for  mercy  on  poor  Simon  whether  guilty  or  not.*  For  I  have  suffered 
only  in  mind.  Had  its  contents  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  devil, 
bloated  with  malice,  he  could  have  done  no  mischief  except  with 
one  letter  from  Judge  Smith,  the  loss  of  which  you  may  be  sure  I 
deplored  deeply,  that  being  recovered  all  is  now  as  it  should  be. 

I  am  giving  practical  proofs  of  the  sincerity  of  my  advice  to  the 
"  Union"  folks  on  the  tariff — in  truth  it  has  so  roused  me  from  a  state 
of  relative  torpor  that,  I  am  making  incessant  efforts  at  independence, 
much  beyond  the  inactivity  I  had  gradually  been  getting  into.  I 
shall  make  within  the  year  more  than  20,000  yards  of  coarse  cotton 
and  woolen  goods — have  killed  upwards  of  500  head  of  hogs  of  my 
own  raising  and  have  young  mules  and  colts  enough  to  hinder  me 
from  buying  a  western  horse  and  mule  for  years. 

God  bless  you  and  yours, 

Your  friend, 

David  R.  Williams. 

Stephen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  Governor  &  Comm.  in  Chief,  Camden,  S.  C. 

[Postmarked  Jan.  29,  Society  Hill.] 

My  Dear  Miller:  I  have  just  received  from  Columbia  The  Case 
of  Winn  & — was  struck,  from  the  docket  &  the  case  of  Gayle  vs.  White 
&  Gayle  was  postponed,  the  court  supposing  it  necessary  to  know 
the  amount  of  property  which  Dr.  Gayle  had  in  order  that  if  they 
did  interfere  with  the  decree  they  might  order  a  proper  settlement. 

I  gathered  but  little  of  politicks.  Preston  was  uneasy  about  his 
wife  and  I  saw  little  of  him.  McCord  went  over  to  Sumter  on  a 
reference  and  I  had  but  little  conversation  with  him.  I  saw  and 
conversed  freely  with  Harrison  on  divers  matters.  I  could  not, 
however,  say  anything  to  him  about  the  agency  we  had  in  electing 

*The  only  apparent  or  actual  reference  to  the  punishment  of  a  slave  found  in  his 
writings,  except  those  referred  to  in  the  legislature.  "  I  pray  for  mercy  on  poor  Simon  " 
shows  a  tenderness  of  heart  akin  to  the  Apostle  Paul's  when  he  wrote  his  postal  card 
to  Philemon  and  sent  it  by  the  runaway  slave. 

331 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

him  Treasurer.  No  allusion  was  made  to  that  event  or  his  conver- 
sation with  McCord  at  your  lodgings  and  I  could  not  therefore  say 
anything  about  either.  If  Smith  should  decline  you  must  make 
up  your  mind  to  be  his  successor.  Without  difficulty  we  can  bring 
every  man  to  the  field  in  this  quarter.  In  Georgetown  I  suspect 
Alston  if  in  the  legislature  will  be  for  Huger.  Pringle  will  go  the 
same  way,  and  Gregg  being  an  old  federalist  will  be  that  way  inclined, 
but  Harllee  can  make  him  go  straight.  When  Withers  returns  we 
shall  know  finally  and  must  take  our  measures  accordingly.  I  shall 
make  it  my  special  business  to  see  that  everything  is  done  within  my 
sphere  which  ought,  and  I  doubt  not  of  success.  If  you  come  out, 
as  you  will,  as  the  Back  Country  candidate  I  think  we  can  count  on 
the  whole  back  country,  except  a  part  of  the  Savannah  river,  within 
the  influence  of  Calhoun  &  Co.,  and  on  a  part  of  the  So  Eastern 
parishes,  who  claim  no  relationship  with  the  Rutledges  and  Pinckneys, 
but  are  essentially  plebian.  Make  my  best  respects  to  Mrs.  M.  & 
believe  yr.  friend,  most  sincerely 

Josiah  J.  Evans* 
26  Jan.,  1829, 

Society  Hill,  S.  C. 
To  S.  D.  Miller,  Governor  S.  C.  Statesburgh,  S.  C. 


Society  Hill,  igtb  July,  1830. 

My  Dear  Friend:  Your  highly  interesting  letter  of  the  14th  inst. 
reached  me  this  morning.  I  have  only  to-day  for  the  first  began  to 
move  about  again  after  having  been  pretty  severely  shocked  in  the 
upper  region  by  my  old  enemy — profusely  bled  and  phisicked.  I 
was  not  only  wilted,  but  completely  prostrated  and  in  such  a  state 
of  lassitude  nothing  could  have  served  as  a  stimulant  but  just  such 
a  kind  and  interesting  letter.  It  has  infused  new  life  into  my  limbs 
and  some  vigor  into  my  mind. 

I  have  never  for  a  moment  considered  Huger  as  other  than  a  can- 
didate since  his  Marion  move  by  way  of  exciting  attention  and 

*Josiah  J.  Evans  was  an  eminent  lawyer  living  at  Society  Hill.  He  was  solicitorjfor 
the  Northern  Circuit,  1817-1828.  He  was  a  close  friend  of  General  Williams  and  was, 
it  appears,  the  defeated  candidate  spoken  of  in  the  preceding  letters.  He  became  in 
1853,  United  States  Senator,  was  re-elected  and  died  in  office. 

332 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

keeping  old  Billy  before  the  people,  seeing  he  had  absquatalised,  wrote 
a  column  or  two  in  the  Cheraw  paper  as  Elector.  All  our  4th  of  July 
meetings  on  the  Pee  Dee  manifest  a  good  share  of  interest  and 
friendship  for  him.  The  tost  at  the  Hayne  dinner,  must  have  told 
among  Huger's  friends,  and  may  serve  to  widen  the  breach  between 
him  and  the  Calhounites.  H.  has  certainly  taken  a  stand  against 
them  and  thinks  the  time  so  alarming  that  every  man  should  make  a 
sacrifice  for  the  country — as  such  he  will  resign  his  office  and  go  into 
the  legislature  to  keep  down  the  unruly.  Pettigrew  does  the  same 
and  for  the  same  purpose.  How  noble  and  patriotic!!!  I  have  this 
from  good  authority.  I  have  seen  Hunt's  course  with  pain  but 
nothing  can  surprise  me  now-a-days.  The  Courier's  assaults  on  you 
I  have  not  seen.  The  two  papers  containing  my  name  were  sent  to 
me  by  a  neighbor.  I  felt  anything  but  complimented,  and  if  there 
had  appeared  a  way,  without  exposure  to  certain  ridicule  1  should 
have  entered  my  disclaimer.  It  brought  me  many  times  to  the 
solemn  self  inquiry,  "What  have  I  done  that  my  enemies  praise 
me?"  This  is  a  country  of  so  much  freedom  in  nominating  presi- 
dents, I  am  not  to  complain  that  any  busy  body  should  take  it  into 
his  head  to  make  a  governor  of  me.  I  suspect  a  certain  set  of  men 
in  Charleston  are  willing  to  form  a  distinct  party  for  themselves — as 
I  have  been  written  to,  requesting  me  to  go  to  the  legislature  also,  and 
to  come  out  for  governor — having  no  appetite  for  either  legislature 
or  executive  honours  I  have  sent  in,  not  my  adhesion,  but  my  refusal. 
I  will  run  under  no  colours  but  of  my  own  choosing,  and  these  have 
been  so  long  known,  I  shall  not  desert  them  even  though  I  should  be 
suspected.  This  Courier  affair,  thank  God  has  brought  me,  among 
many  regrets,  some  most  animating  delight,  for  without  it,  you  would 
scarcely  have  had  cause  to  have  assured  me  of,  what  will  give  rest 
to  many  a  day  of  affections  that  I  fear  is  to  come,  your  cordial  and 
constant  friendship.  I  reciprocate  it  from  the  deepest  recesses  of 
my  soul,  with  all  my  might  and  with  all  my  strength  and  would  not 
exchange  it  for  all  the  honours  in  the  state  combined.  On  the  matter 
of  nomination,  then,  we  are  of  the  same  mind.  I  wish  we  could  think 
as  much  alike  as  to  what  is  expedient  in  future,  although  I  do  not 
believe  there  is  any  great  difference.  The  indications  in  Charleston 
and  the  4th  of  July  tosts  elsewhere,  point  to  a  state  of  things  alarm- 
ing to  me  and  which  I  think  have  been  carried  quite  as  far  as  safety 
warrants.    Altho'  almost  all  these  tosts  are  so  diplomatic,  they  in- 

333 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

dicate  rather  a  temporising  than  an  inflexible  course,  yet,  still  to 
continue  the  argument,  backed  by  mischiefs  more  to  be  dreaded 
than  any  positive  evil  we  have  yet  suffered  I  think  inexpedient  and 
ought  to  be  discontinued.  1  am  for  preventing  all  irasibility  among 
ourselves;  to  treat  the  resentment  &  even  violence  of  others,  not  only 
with  gentleness  but  respect.  I  am  willing  those  who  have  resented 
loudest  and  highest  shall  be  permitted  to  take  any  course  they  please 
that  will  allow  their  courage  to  ooze  out  of  their  fingers'  ends  most 
agreeably  to  themselves;  but  with  this  understanding,  they  have 
vapoured  and  scolded  long  enough.  It  has  becoming  too  serious  to 
keep  up  the  quarrel,  'tis  time  for  moderation  and  reason.  In  short 
and  plainly,  I  am  for  peace,  under  any  existing  state  of  things  that 
I  think  likely  to  rise,  rather  than  civil  war.  This  is  the  result  to 
which  the  current  sets.  I  believe  the  other  states  will  not  go  another 
step  with  us — and  that  So.  Carolina  alone  can  do  nothing  better 
than  protest  and  submit.  Now  it  is  a  matter  of  no  sort  of  conse- 
quence to  me  how  we  shall  arrive  at  this  result,  or  by  what  way  we 
reach  the  object  so  that  it  be  ultimately  settled.  For  So.  Car.  along 
must  be  not  only  abused  but  put  down.  Moreover  I  see  no  probable 
remedy  except  in  the  relief  that  each  individual  may  work  out  for 
himself — if  each  shall  do  all  he  can  to  avoid  the  import,  very  few  will 
pay  much.  I  have  to  this  hour  been  doing  this  to  the  utmost  and 
rely  on  it  the  exactions  from  me  would  not  furnish  a  breakfast  for  a 
tide  waiter. 

1  hear  with  great  regret  of  Mrs.  Miller's  indisposition.  I  close 
with  your  proposition  for  a  meeting  with  Smith  with  all  my  heart, 
and  if  no  unforeseen  event  occurs,  I  will  meet  you  in  York  or  Green- 
ville. Advise  me  as  the  time  draws  near,  when  and  where.  Your 
letter  is  destroyed.     God  bless  you. 

Your  assured  friend, 

D.  R.  Williams. 

Society  Hill,  S.  C,  July  20. 

To  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  Governor  Sr  Comm.  in  Chief,  etc.  etc. 
Camden,  South  Carolina. 


R.  R.  Springs,  1  lib  Aug.,  1830. 
My  Dear  Miller:  Your  last  kind  favour  reached  me  here  two  days 
ince.     I  obey  you  by  the  first  opportunity  to  write  since  it's  receipt. 

334 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

I  do  so  simply  because  you  have  desired  I  should  "write  soon."  Ex- 
cept to  thank  you  for  your  letter  I  have  not  another  idea  to  com- 
municate; unless  indeed  I  write  about  myself,  a  very  pleasant  subject 
to  be  sure,  however  unprofitable.  Three  weeks  last  Monday  I  began 
to  fill  up  the  great  casm,  made  in  my  dam  last  Aug,  and  which  you 
saw.  I  began  with  44  mules  and  35  fellows  and  although  the  ex- 
cavation was  quite  large  enough  to  make  one  shrink  from  the  job, 
nearly  a  year,  I  could  not  arrange,  to  suit  with  my  other  views,  earlier. 
Altho  I  have  lost  nothing  of  the  disposition  to  enterprise,  I  freely 
confess  almost  all  the  ability  to  labour,  has  passed  from  me.  You 
are,  bye  the  bye,  not  old  enough  to  believe  it  was  to  this  mainly  that, 
Shakespear  alluded,  by  desire  and  lasting  performance,  at  least,  the 
old  thief  ought  so  to  have  meant,  rather  than  remind  old  fellows  of 
what  they  never  have  a  disposition  to  remember.  I  hope  to  finish 
this  undertaking,  time  enough  to  arrange  for  meeting  you  in  Green- 
ville or  other  place.     .    .    . 

There  is  so  much  of  heterodoxy  in  the  politicians  and  their  prin- 
ciples, such  a  mixt  multitude  of  villanous  compound,  in  most  of  those 
who  are  engaged  in  the  present  stir,  I  cannot  hope  for  good  from  them. 
There  are  quite  too  few  of  correct  political  principles  on  other  matters 
to  guide  in  this — too  much  inconsistency  among  them,  and  too  much 
of  positive  absurdity  to  admit  of  it.  How  men  can  believe  in  im- 
provements and  the  U.  S.  Bank,  and  yet  pronounce  the  tariff  uncon- 
stitutional, I  cannot  understand.  If  South  Carolina  could  go  the 
whole — if  other  states  alike  deeply  interested  would  combine,  some- 
thing might  be  expected.  There  are  not  now  probably  five  men 
in  the  state  who  are  or  have  been  prominent  in  public  life,  really  of 
the  old  school  republicans.  Our  members  of  congress  have  clearly 
understood  at  Washington  that  the  other  interested  states  will 
advance  not  another  inch.  What  then  can  we  anticipate  alone,  but 
discomfiture?  For  the  union  I  have  ceased  to  fear,  believing  a  great 
majority  is  for  it.  That  the  character  of  the  state  may  suffer,  I 
cannot  but  apprehend  most  seriously.  God  Almighty  preserve 
both! 

Pray  tell  me  who  is  Jefferson  of  the  Camden  Journal?  Have  you 
seen  Burgess'  speech?  the  old  arch  heretic  has  had  the  audacity  to 
allude  to  me,  we  were  classmates  and  almost  always  at  enmity.  He 
stiles  .McDuffie  throughout  Dr.  Cooper's  pupil.  I  wonder  he  did 
not,  take  the  hydrophobic  at  least  break  the  old  sinner's  head. 

335 


THE  LIFE  AND  LEGACY  OF 

There  is  high  precedent,  of  course  authority,  for  the  attempt  at 
least. 

God  bless  you  with  health  and  happiness 

David  R.  Williams. 

N.  B.  You  have  had  your  own  "great  state  right  dinner"  in  your 
own  mansion.  Can't  you  enliven  the  gloom  of  these  woods  by  a 
description?  If  there  was  anything  picquant  or  to  the  point  do  let 
me  know  it. 

Society  Hill,  S.  C,  Aug.  14. 

Stephen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  Gov.&Comm.  in  Chief,  etc.  etc. Camden,  S.  C. 

R.  R.  Springs,  Sept.  4,  1830. 

Mv  Dear  Sir:  Your  interesting  letter  of  the  22nd  ult,  reached  me 
some  days  since.  I  read  it  with  great  interest  and  have  reflected 
on  it  with  as  much  (I  hope  misapplied)  sorrow.  I  ought  to  believe, 
as  all  my  political,  and  nearly  all  my  personal  friends  are  opposed 
to  me  that,  I  am  wrong,  the  deepest  meditation,  however,  only  affords 
hope,  not  conviction.  I  am  obliged  to  you  for  the  paragraph  in 
Daniel's  paper,  for  I  can  attribute  it  only  to  you.  The  manner  in 
which  my  name  has  been  used  is  truly  mortifying  to  me.  I  console 
myself  with  the  belief  that  I  have  no  friend  who  will  for  a  moment 
apprehend,  I  have  been  coquetting  with  the  party  who,  have  thus 
used  it — there  is  not,  nor  never  was  any  circumstance  of  association 
or  sympathy  between  it  and  me. 

I  subscribe  fully  to  the  proposition  you  laid  down  at  Statesburgh, 
but  still  cannot  see  that  convention  ought  to  be  used  even  as  you 
suggest.  It  appears  to  me  there  is  but  one  step  beyond  that  So.  Co. 
has  taken,  i.  e.  after  protest  comes  battle,  and  which  I  can  consent 
to,  only,  when  our  wrongs  shall  become  worse  than  disunion  and  civil 
war.  The  measures  recommended  as  remedies  are  to  my  appre- 
hendsion  as  dangerous  as  fire  in  a  magazine  of  gun  powder  to  cure 
the  walls  of  dampness.  To  all  I  have  recommended  no  fight  against 
convention,  to  vote  against,  but  not  struggle.  If  it  shall  be  called, 
I  then  think  every  nerve  should  be  exerted  without  stint  or  measure 
to  prevent  mischief.  This  being  my  creed  I  hope  we  do  not  differ 
much. 

I  intend  to  go  from  hence  to  Charlotte,  then  to  York  C.  H.  I 
shall  be  there  on  the  16th.  I  wish  I  had  a  copy  of  your  records  I 
might  then  judge  of  your  course  and  progress. 

336 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

Your  friend  David  who,  bye  the  bye,  seems  to  have  some  notion 
of  the  importance  of  being  remembered  by  a  Governor,  sends  you 
how  de — he  is  well — the  breach  is  repaired  and  completed  with  three 
days  more  work  than  I  anticipated. 

Your  sincere  friend 

David  R.  Williams. 
To  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  Governor  &*  Com.  in  Chief,  etc.,  near 
Camden,  South  Carolina. 

Society  Hill,  Oct.,  loth  1830. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  reached  here  this  evening  with  my  family  from 
the  Springs  and  had  the  pleasure  on  my  arrival  to  receive  your  favour 
of  the  23  ulto.  It  is  particularly  agreeable  to  me,  to  find  ample 
excuse  in  your  mind  is  felt,  for  my  failure  of  promise  to  you. 

I  am  glad  you  did  not  publish  an  extract  from  my  letter,  only  be- 
cause it  might  have  brought  me  again  into  the  public  prints;  a  burnt 
child  dreads  the  fire.  I  really  cannot  conceive  it  possible  that  my 
opinions  can  prove  a  defense  of  yours  if  contrary  to  my  convictions, 
you  think  otherwise,  any  sentiment,  I  may  have  expressed,  or  opinion 
avowed  in  that,  or  any  other  letter;  or  in  any  other  way  expressed 
to  you,  you  may  use  at  your  discretion  most  freely,  only  do  not  give 
the  words  or  phrases  as  extracts.  I  have  no  friend  on  earth  I  should 
be  prouder  to  serve  than  you  but  I  feel  perfectly  assured  you  need 
no  defense,  and  if  possible,  yet  more  certain,  that,  it  is  wholly  beyond 
my  reach — in  this  spirit  and  confidence  I  regret  you  did  not  reply  to 
Major  Hamilton  more  positively  and  with  less  qualification.  I  not 
only  am  not  but  no  circumstance  can  make  me  a  candidate  for  the 
executive  office.  I  am  decidedly  opposed  to  his  present  opinions,  as 
I  always  have  been  to  those  which,  he  himself  now  denounces;  but 
most  surely  there  can  be  no  justice  in  his  suffering  himself  to  be 
persuaded  that,  I  feel  emnity  towards  him,  by  an  authority  which, 
to  him  is  good  in  nothing  else,  for  he  has  personal  knowledge  that,  I 
have  never  been  otherwise  than  opposed  to  the  Courier  Doctrines. 
1  have  not  heard  of  what  you  say  a  native  of  Chesterfield  has  pub- 
lished about  you  and  myself,  altho  I  did  hear  that  P.  H.  May  would 
send  a  communication  to  the  Courier.  I  presume  it  is  the  piece  I 
was  told  of. 

I  have  seen  your  Sumter  speech,  if  I  had  been  at  your  elbow  I 
would  have  asked  you  to  suppress  two  ideas  which  I  see  in  it;  and  it 

337 


DAVID  ROGERSON  WILLIAMS 

is  not  impossible  that,  the  first  friend  you  might  have  met  afterwards 
would  have  insisted  for  the  retention  of  those  very  portions  of  it; 
it  is  impossible  that  men  can  think  alike  on  all  points;  but  yet  more 
so  that,  my  regards  for  you,  can  be  cooled  or  weakened  by  any  such 
difference  of  opinion  as  honest  men  may  disagree  concerning.  Allow 
me  to  add  nothing  could  give  me  more  delight  than  to  find  our  opinions 
on  these  matters  were  becoming  more  alike,  as  they  have  been  here- 
tofore on  all  others. 

You  are  much  to  my  regret  wholly  silent  about  our  friend  Smith : 
how  stands  the  case  with  him?  Will  he  be  at  Columbia?  I  presume 
Judge  Huger  has  not  withdrawn  his  pretentions,  altho  I  have  heard 
it  so  stated.  I  have  been  told  that  sharp  words  have  passed  between 
him  and  Hamilton — are  they  disunited?  Will  Hamilton  support 
Smith?  Rt.  Campbell  will  be  returned  from  Marlborough.  I  have 
not  seen  him  lately.  I  know  he  is  not  cordial  towards  Smith  but 
approves  his  politics.  If  Campbell  shall  vote  for  Huger  he  will  cause 
a  powerful  inrode  on  the  Pee  Dee  country. 

From  present  appearances  I  think  the  first  and  leading  object  of 
our  new  converts  to  the  state  right  doctrine  of  the  Legislature  now  is 
to  find  some  harbour  from  shipwreck;  some  mountain  or  rock  to 
hide  them  from  the  ridicule  which  threaten  them.  Messrs.  Calhoun, 
Hayne,  McDuffie  and  Hamilton  have  made  for  themselves  a  bed  of 
thorns.  If  these  persons  could  be  separated  from  So.  Carolina  I 
should  be  for  leaving  them  to  the  repose  they  may  find  in  it,  but  I 
consider  this  out  of  the  question,  and  am  therefore  averse  to  putting 
matters  to  extremes  against  them.  I  am  in  charity  perfectly  willing 
that  they  be  allowed  to  work  out  their  own  salvation,  as  they  best 
can.  If  they  prefer  the  course  which,  you  &  Legare  seemed  to  im- 
agine (if  I  understand  you)  so  be  it.  I  am  out  of  the  public  eye,  and 
hope  to  remain  so;  and  will  do  nothing  that  shall  tend  to  prevent 
an  escape  from  the  pending  embarassments  that  threaten. 

God  bless  you  my  dear  Sir  be  assured  of  the  unaltered  friendship 
&  affection  of 

D.  R.  Williams. 

To  Stephen  D.  Miller,  Esq.,  near  Camden,  S.  C. 


338 


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